


The Seven Sins of Jack Morrison

by hollyleighannee



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Eventual Relationships, Implied Gabriel and McCree, Jack Morrison's life flashes before his eyes, Jesse is 19 and only one chapter mentions this relationship, M/M, Porn with Feelings, Will add more tags as I go forward, it's angsty, it's good, it's sexy, oh god the angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2020-10-17 01:14:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 69,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20612498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyleighannee/pseuds/hollyleighannee
Summary: Jack Morrison knew he'd die one day.He'd been prepared for it, thought he perceived what it would be like, as he'd already visited his own funeral once, but he'd been wrong. Laying in the silent desert two hours outside Cairo, chest spurting wetly over his leather jacket where the bullet made a clean exit, he began seeing his life flash before his eyes, a list of his sins, a list of reasons he should burn in Hell.





	1. Prologue.

****

**PRESENT DAY**

Jack Morrison had caused devastation for the better part of three decades, spanning a kill count and a depression across the entire globe, angering every possible government associate, and human who loved him, until he ended up watching his own funeral from afar, in the rain, and seeing all his fellow Overwatch agents cry over his death, consoling each other, but no family, no spouse of his own - not even the man he loved the most in the entire universe.

All the things he did back then haunted him, he thought about them in the middle of the night, in the silence of whatever beat up motel room and raucous town he found himself in; they caused him a special kind of pain, an aching in his chest he could never put words towards. Like a section of himself had been carved out, some vital organ that burned and hurt and would do so until the day he truly did die, and was buried in a grave not belonging to him. Just an old man without a home or a country or anyone who loved him.

Ana always said it was because he was a good man, who wished he could have been better, saved everyone they used to cherish, and that was why his heart called out to his past in a fervent want to reclaim his innocence and fix his wrongs.

Of course, Ana Amari was far too trusting of her old Strike Commander. That's why he loved her, and visited her way too often. Of course, that was how he ended up in his current predicament, because he couldn't keep himself away from one of the few people who still looked at him as though he were worthy of being captain.

Because everyone else knew.

The truth of Jack Morrison.

His dark shadows. The ones he'd collected over the years of being in Overwatch, harbored like a parasite, so deep, someone would have to dig for a hundred years to find out his truth, as he could never speak it aloud and admit all the things he'd done.

To put it simply... Jack Morrison deserved to burn in Hell.

At least, that's what he kept telling himself as he felt the hot sands of the Cairo outskirts on his back, the burning hot gunshot wound to the right of his chest, and ever dwindling feeling of warmth and life in all his limbs and extremities. The world tilted around him, the sky fading from blue to different, strange colors as his eyes blurred and he threatened to lose consciousness. It made it hard to breathe, he could hear himself wetly wheezing, chest spurting blood, spreading across his leather jacket. His hands were gore slick and numb, pressing desperately at his wound in an attempt to prolong his pathetic life.

He'd just came to this little place to see Ana, to have tea with her, talk about things, get stuff off his mind in a way only his one friend could help him with.

On his way into the little town, he never heard the sniper shot. Just felt a strange stinging. Didn't even notice his own blood as he looked down at first, and it wasn't until he collapsed to his knees that he realized what happened. By then, it was too late.

He was left to die, slowly, in the hot sun, just him - a broken, disenchanted man - with a list of sins staring him in the face.

They came to him in flashes.

An eerie blue light casting shadows on a handsome face. A start of pain in his jaw. A picture of bright fire, an explosion, then of smoke swirling around his naked body as intense sadness overwhelmed him.

All of them were different. Different countries, different people involved, years apart, but there was one detail each memory had in common - as all those sins had to do with the same person, with the same flash of dark hair and mischievous eyes, a tilted, crooked smirk no one but him ever got to see. Tanned skin and work rough hands, soft, affectionate kisses from the world's least likely candidate. His entire life had crumbled around him because of this one man.

And now, he was going to die thinking about him.

The last thing he would ever see...

Gabriel Reyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy!!! This work is something I'm pretty proud of, as it is my first attempt at fan fiction of any kind. Thank you all for reading! And please be kind. Thank you.
> 
> Come scream at me on Twitter: [HollyLeighannee](https://twitter.com/HollyyLeighanne)  



	2. The First Sin.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sin #1: A one night stand with a stranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the only chapter I truly struggled with, it hops around like a possessed rabbit, and I know it sounds terrible, but I promise, it gets better after this. And also, I’ve had so much trouble posting this. Entire sentences have been deleted every time I edit and I have NO IDEA WHY!!!! So if you see missing words, I’m so sorry, I’m attempting to fix it. Thank you.

_The daylight recedes_  
_In unison, this room_  
_Buries the hours_  
_Like death, in motion_  
_Nobody else can pull me out_  
_The fields of elation quiet and loamy_  
_Your name is a sin_  
_I breathe, like oxygen_  
_Caught in the careless_  
_Arms of lust again_  
_Nobody else can pull me out_

**August 21st, 2040**

**3 AM.**

_"Gabriel_."

The reverence slipping from his lips sounded like a man lost in the shining light of religion.

He barely recognized his own voice anymore, hours having passed since their lips touched for the first time. The room had melted away long ago, leaving nothing but the musky, lust filled haze of their own little world, and the two of them. Just them. No one else. Outside didn't exist anymore, he didn't have to worry about what his family back in Indiana felt about his sins, nor did he worry of what his partner would do upon learning his errant behavior. 

None of that mattered.

Only the mingling of sticky, urgent gasps, the fingertip bruises along his inner thighs, the way his body quivered beneath strong, rough hands, hardened from military work. Existing in this room, Jack Morrison no longer became a living being independent of his own. He became part of something bigger, greater - he became the way the man pressed against his back looked at him and touched him. 

As though he were a priceless piece of art, the most beautiful thing in the world, something to be ravished and cherished and held down and fucked until he couldn't breathe, then kissed and kissed and loved until he couldn't find oxygen in a completely different way. Throughout the night, he'd been brought to tears twice, unable to handle it, everything becoming far too much because of these things.

Sweat collected in the underside of his knee, where a strong arm was hooked, lifting his leg up and apart, enough for lazy, slow thrusting as they spooned beneath a sullied and disgusting comforter, both of them still swimming in the hazy aftermath of a short nap.

With a loud sigh against the shell of his ear, he felt Gabriel Reyes thrust deep inside him and shudder through another orgasm, the fourth one just this night. The overwhelming size of his erection made Jack moan like a pathetic, sloppy mess, throat sore and worn from overuse, his own dick pathetically twitching through the last attempts of release. His entire body, head to toe, felt overly sensitive, sore, disgusting. Sweat had dried along every inch of skin, the sheets were damp beneath them, his hair stuck wetly to his forehead. In all senses, it should have been disgusting, but Jack could feel nothing but thoroughly sated until his bones felt lax and limp.

"Fuck," a husky voice breathed, ruffling the fine hairs at the nape of his neck. A rough hand slipped up his entire body, trailing fingertips up and down his ribcage, soothing him. "You're somethin' else, pretty boy."

"Mm, I've heard," Jack whispered, and tossed a glance over his shoulder at the bed's other occupant.

Tanned, handsome, damp as well, but absolutely breathtaking in every sense of the word. Gabriel Reyes. Soldier:24. His heart stuttered at the sight, he could barely form coherent thoughts.

Gabriel gently separated the two of them, but did not pull away, just continued touching him. Affectionately. Softly. Like they'd been sleeping together for years instead of having met a mere few hours prior. 

A one night stand, a small voice inside his own head whispered, the ghost of guilt attempting to make him feel like a terrible person for his actions, for cheating on his partner back home.

Jack had heard the term before, knew people who had done that sort of thing during their carefree years, but he never, in a million years, considered himself the type of person who would do that kind of thing, especially with a stranger. He knew nothing about this man, except his name, and that he was as beautiful as anything he'd set eyes on in his entire life, and he hadn't planned on this happening. Of course not. How could he?

However, everything happened so fast, he'd been whipped up into a windstorm he had no strength to escape from.

One moment, he'd been on the track to becoming a better soldier.

Now, he was laying with a stranger in bed.

Closing his eyes, settling against the warm skin at his back, that little spirit of reasonable thought whispered again-

_What the fuck just happened?_

**August 20th, 2040**

**3 PM**

He'd been just a bright-eyed kid when he first joined the military, an eighteen year old with a heart full of golden dreams and innocent aspirations, hoping to make a difference in the world. He'd had a good boyfriend, a good family back in Indiana waiting for him, his entire future shining brightly ahead of him. Some days, it had been hard to remember the reason why he started it all, but he'd remember whenever he looked at the old photos of him with his family - he could see it in his own, carefree eyes - he wanted to save the world and be a hero, be the kind of great person he'd dreamed about since he was a child. Belief in that steadfast resolution had brought him to the military sign ups in his hometown, and his entire family supported him, Vincent clapped him on the shoulders, every person encouraging him left and right and fawning over their hero.

"You'll save the world from the Omnics," they said. "If anyone can do it, it's you, Jack."

Those words had swelled up within him and kept him going through basic training and gave him a reason to fight as hard he could through the beginning of his first tour, right in the front lines against the Omnic Crisis. In those months, he saved everyone he could, tried his hardest, and became someone Indiana would be proud of. _Finally_, he was making a difference! Living his childhood dream! And, by God, he loved every single second of it, so when the higher up military brass approached him one day at their station point and quietly said they were impressed by his tenacity and his willingness to protect the world, and ultimately asked him if he would like to do more for his country, he couldn't say yes fast enough, without asking for any further information.

Excitement could not cover how he felt when he grabbed his two duffle bags and headed for the military's private aircraft, as they wanted to personally escort him to the secret facility and introduce him to this new, underwraps program. He felt great the entire way there, he felt wonderful when they landed the aircraft behind a large building just outside a huge city, surrounded by a large fence lined with barbwire, and he even felt fantastic when they led him to the front door of the building and introduced him to the perky, middle aged woman waiting outside for him.

His happiness still soared right up to the second he paused in the doorway and asked, "Pardon me, but what is this program for, sir?"

"Soldier enhancement," one of the men answered.

When his brows furrowed with confusion, the other man piped up. "You'll be receiving serums to make you into a super soldier, Morrison. This is a secret government program and we're honored to have you participating in it for your country."

There had been a moment where he wasn’t sure what to do, what to think, and he just stared at the two men before him, waiting for someone to say it was a sick joke. 

Then, the world dropped out from underneath him, as the brass departed the location and left him alone with the woman, who smiled and started leading him into the building - which seemed to be completely empty. They walked down a long, dark hallway, lined with pitch black rooms, empty chairs. A chill creeped up his spine, words echoing in the chambers of his mind. _Serums, super soldier, secret program._

The woman had been chatting about something, he couldn't hear passed the blood roaring in his ears - maybe about how much he'd done for their country? Or how this program was something to be proud of? He couldn't quite catch it. It wasn't until they reached the end of the hallway, to a large metal doorway, and the woman creaked it open that his nerves began slowly, slowly creeping up the back of his throat, choking him.

The room had two long, metal tables on either side, surrounded by cold, metal chairs. There was only one light hanging in the middle of the room, dimly providing the bare minimum illumination possible; so much so, it barely showed the other single person sitting inside, in the shadows to the left. The person wore a large jacket with the hood up, head resting in one hand as they slouched over a stack of papers, scribbling quickly.

"Sit wherever you want," the woman told him, handing him the stack of papers in her arms, which he now saw had a pen clipped to the front. "Fill out and sign all these papers, and the instructor will be with you both shortly." Turning, she disappeared back down the hallway, swinging the door closed behind her.

That was how twenty-year-old Jack Morrison found himself utterly alone, with nothing but two duffle bags and a pair of shaking hands, in a dark room, regretting coming here in the first place. Being on the front lines against the Omnics had been everything he dreamed of, he was good at it, the squadron he'd been assigned to loved him. In accordance to everyone's opinions, enhancement was not something he needed.

Yet here he was.

His vision felt blurred and strained as he tried to read the front page of the informative packet.

**SOLDIERS FOR ENHANCEMENT**

**NAME  
** **DATE OF BIRTH**  
**PLEASE LIST YOUR ALLERGIES**  
**PLEASE LIST ANY OTHER MEDICAL CONDITIONS**  
**PLEASE LIST ANY PRIOR INJURIES**

He tapped the tip of his pen against the first letters, trying to breathe. This was far more horrifying than any tour against Omnics. Didn't people die this way? Coming to mysterious facilities in the middle of nowhere, alone, for some strange program, and then they're never seen again? He didn't really want to be that kind of statistic...

_JOHN FRANCIS MORRISON_  
_July 12, 2021._  
_Peanuts._  
_None._  
_Broken arm at 12. Shot once in the shoulder by Omnic three months ago._

The next few questions were equally as mundane, useless. He sped through the rest of the page as fast as his hand would allow him, hoping there was something in the words that would calm him.

A disclaimer page came next.

**Blah, blah, blah, ONCE A SUBJECT HAS TAKEN THE ENHANCEMENT SERUMS, THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY FURTHER GENETIC ALTERING MEDICATIONS OR PROCEDURES. THIS COULD LEAD TO CATASTROPHIC RESU-**

Jack ignored that and flipped the page.

**REASON FOR WANTING TO JOIN THE ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.**

This made him pause, sitting up straighter as he stared down at the words. 

He knew why, but could he truly say it was worth putting himself at risk like this? In some strange facility, allowing himself to be plied with serums and strange liquids? None of his family or loved ones even knew where he was; to them, he'd still be on the front lines with his military squadron, safe and sound and accounted for. What city were they in? What country were they in?

Swallowing hard, he watched the tip of his pen scrawl each letter with a slow, precise nature.

_I want to help people._

That was why he was there.

Something about saying it again made his nerves calm enough for him to finally take a deep breath. He was here to be what he wanted to be and fulfill his dreams, become a symbol of something greater for everyone. Protect those who couldn't protect themselves. His family in Indiana would be so proud of him for doing this, even if they would probably never know the truth of what happened at this facility, during this program, but just the knowledge gave him solace and a warmth that settled in his stomach.

He flipped to the next page, a glimmer of hope rising in the dark shadows of his heart.

"Aren't you a little pretty to be here?"

Jack's gaze snapped from his paperwork, across the darkened room where the only other figure was sitting; he'd had his head down, so Jack couldn't see his face or even remotely who he may have been when he first walked in, but now, in the one dim light hanging above them both, he saw the man was leaning back in his chair, feet propped up on the table, showing the bottoms of his heavy, military issue boots. Dark skin, darker eyes, and a chiseled face that could kill a lesser man, Jack could only huff loudly as he pushed back from the table and leveled a strong look toward him. "Aren't _you_ a little pretty to be here?"

The man smirked, full lips quirking lazily off to one side. The cocky expression showed off his square, strong jawline, which was covered in a perfectly trimmed scruff of facial hair, just enough to make him look rugged and handsome. "What's your name, then, pretty boy?"

The way he said those words made his fist clench against his paper. _Pretty boy._ That was not something he'd ever been called. "Jack," he mumbled. "Jack Morrison."

"Gabriel Reyes." The man pulled his feet down from the table and leaned forward, further into the light, one hand reaching up to pull down his hood in a quick motion.

_Oh._

Before his brain even caught up to his sight, his stomach flip-flopped, thoughts going blank.

Pulling down the hood had revealed something he had not been expecting - why the fuck would he wear a hood at all when he looked like that? Seemed almost illegal. Black, shining hair perfectly quaffed, swooping to one direction, the sides shaved into a very smooth and professional fade. Up close, and out of most the shadows clinging around the corners of this terrifying place, Jack saw he had a scar across one eyebrow and features that looked chiseled from stone, or plucked from every strange fantasy he had and hidden before he admitted to everyone in his family that he liked men, before he started dating Vincent.

How many attractive men just like this one had he stared at a little too long in magazines, on television, in the porn videos that made him cringe? Men like this one did not exist in his tiny part of Indiana. Men like this didn't stand around and farm corn and talk about high school football games; oh no, this was the kind of man with a look in his eye that said he was dangerous, risky. The opposite of the safe little world he'd carved out for himself in his hometown, in his relationship. 

Gabriel Reyes looked like a world he'd only ever dreamed of.

Swallowing hard, he looked back down at his paperwork again, hands feeling a little less confident as he filled in the blanks with answers that seemed horribly mundane now. Blood type. Weight. Height. Emergency contacts. 

Writing Vincent's name in the second emergency contact line felt a little strange now, too. He had yet to do anything, and didn't think he would ever do anything like that to hurt his partner, but in his relationship, he wasn't known to admire other men before. It made him feel guilty, a little uncomfortable.

"Why are you here, though?" this Gabriel Reyes asked. His voice was gruff and husky, deep, commanding. Very sexy. Near painfully so.

"Probably the same reason you're here, don't you think?" Jack didn't look up as he wrote what he thought he may have weighed at the time.

"Ah, so you're an adrenaline junkie, too?"

That made him glance up, brow furrowed.

Gabriel laughed, mouth quirking into another smirk. "I'm joking."

In retrospect, Jack knew this was the moment that started all the unfortunate events that led to the moment of his supposed demise in the desert. That first moment. That first look at Gabriel Reyes' tilted, crooked smirk that disarmed him, the first flutter of butterflies in his core.

That day, in the dark room, he never knew what the future would hold for either of them.

**4:15 PM**

"From this day forward, Morrison, you will be referred to as Soldier:76. Reyes, you are Soldier:24."

A few minutes prior, they'd been rushed out of the dark paperwork room, and into a much larger central room. One side held medical equipment, the other, work out appliances like treadmills and weights. Two chairs had been placed up front for the two of them, in front of what Jack would call a stage, backdropped by a large projection screen. A tall, lanky man, with gaunt cheeks, dark hair, and a button up shirt stood before them, holding their files. A smaller, petite woman stood at his side, wearing a lab coat and nurse's shoes, watching the floor with her hands in her pockets.

They both looked extremely serious and foreboding.

"You can call me Blackwell. I'm in charge of the Soldier Enhancement Program. It's nice to meet both of you and all of us here at the facility thank you for your service to your country and your willingness to become better soldiers," he said. 

A pause filled the room, letting those words settle in.

Beside him, Gabriel shifted in their cheap chairs, boots squeaking on the tiled flooring.

"Alright, 24, 76. You two are our only candidates for the week. These programs are administered in small groups so we can keep a close eye for negative side effects." The man smiled gently. "What you two are doing for the world is very brave."

Since they'd arrived just an hour ago, he'd heard a similar comment a total of five times.

He didn't feel brave.

He almost dreaded the procedure - the strange, yet pleasant conversations between himself and Gabriel in the paperwork room had managed to keep his mind off things for a while, right up till Blackwell came to get them. Imagining what they were going to do to them was something he couldn't begin to fathom; injections, experiments, invasive surgeries? Would it be some nightmare thing? Of course, he'd muscle through regardless, but even soldiers were allowed to get nervous?

Right?

Beside him, Gabriel shifted, shoulder bumping his own softly. "Alright, so, what're you doing to us, then?"

Gabriel had probably never been nervous or scared about anything in his entire life, he didn't seem like the type of person who was frightened of anything. Jack could vividly picture that handsome face laughing during any danger and fight, unfazed, willing to claw his way through fires and gun fights and floods to do what he wanted, absolutely made of steel and iron. It made his stomach flutter.

Blackwell began speaking again, pulling Jack back down. "Today, you will receive a standard drink to prepare your body, then an injection, then you will train in this room with me for as long as you can, could be five minutes, could be an hour." He flipped a page. "Tomorrow, you will receive another, then we will see how your body is reacting to these alterations. If there is any strange reactions, you will not be allowed to join your fellow recruits until your vitals have leveled out." He lowered his paperwork and leveled a serious look at both of them. "Does that sound like something you both can agree to?"

Jack slowly nodded, as Gabriel sat forward a little further and said, "Hell yeah."

"For the time being, please remove your shirts so we can commence the physical." Blackwell handed the file off to the doctor beside him, turning around and moving towards the table off to the back, apparently finished with his part of this day.

The doctor stepped forward, lifting her head. "Alright, boys. I'm Dr. Sexton. Shirts off."

Jack stood from his chair and had his shirt halfway off when Gabriel yanked his hoodie and undershirt all the way off in one practiced movement. Immediately, his gaze flashed to him, glued, as he realized that, yes, this situation he was battling in his brain could, in fact, get much, much worse for him.

Because Gabriel Reyes was fucking _h o t_.

So hot, Jack became very aware of his own somewhat disappointing body just then, a heat building across his skin as he flitted his eyes all over every inch of his torso he could as fast as possible.

He looked like he worked out every single day and never had a moment's rest. He looked like a Greek God, cut from stone and sent to Earth for the sole purpose of seducing the human population. Large, muscled, strong arms, with small scars along his right bicep, rippling with each movement. His chest was toned and hard, a set of abs so beautiful and defined, it made his mouth water. His dark skin looked good enough to eat.

He only stared for a total of six seconds, but it felt like a thousand years before he could break himself out of his trance and pull his shirt off the rest of the way. He'd always had a pretty good body himself, from basic training and working on his family's farm from the time he turned fourteen onward, but he felt like a complete lump next to this beautiful man. From head to toe, Gabriel was far superior to the blonde little Indiana farm boy.

Tossing his shirt down, he glanced back at the doctor.

"Good. I'll test your baseline vitals first, so if you could both take a seat in your chairs, I'll get to work."

Thankfully, the mundane acts of a hospital setting put a damper on anything else, as Jack fell into the easy routine of the doctor taking his blood pressure, temperature, heart rate. This part was much easier, more familiar, something he'd done a hundred times - it put his nerves at ease, that maybe this wasn't something weird and illegal like he'd feared before. So he was able to zone out and focus on more important things.

Except then a little niggling began in the back of his skull, annoying, persistent.

_You idiot, you're a grown man. You aren't supposed to have a crush!_ Fuck, he'd never had a true, honest to goodness crush before. Only a gentle relationship with someone he'd known his entire life, an easy transition from childhood friends to careful dating, and an even more cautious and brief physical relationship. Crushes were not something he knew much about.

Uncharted waters were pushing him further and further away from the shore that day, the tests, this man, the setting, all unfamiliar, all too much. Jack bit his bottom lip until it hurt and kept quiet.

The rest of the tests rushed by quickly, easily, and before Jack had realized it, Blackwell was stepping up to the front of the room again, as Dr. Sexton turned to write things in the files, burying herself amongst the medical equipment.

"Now, time for your first drink and your injection."

The sound of Dr. Sexton slapping on latex gloves filled the room with a harsh sort of sickness.

The serums were strangely colored, as Blackwell pulled them from the mini refrigerator Jack hadn't noticed amid the medical equipment. A deep, disgusting yellow, reminiscent of herbal teas Jack had seen here and there throughout his teenage years. Those were just the small bottles, of course - the serum in the needle the doctor lifted up for them to see was much brighter, thicker, viscous. The sight almost appeared gross to him, as though it were something not meant to be inserted in a living, human body.

Nonetheless, he drank it down when Blackwell handed it to them both - and the taste was unlike anything he had ever tasted, and would ever taste again. It felt cold, but warm on his tongue, burned his throat, and numbed his teeth, the texture so thick, he nearly gagged as he swallowed. Surprisingly, the injection Dr. Sexton pressed into their forearms was much easier.

"How long before we start feeling different?" Gabriel piped up.

"Each body reacts differently, so we're going to get started on your next task immediately, to get your blood pumping." Blackwell clapped his hands together. "So, I know this seems strange, but you both did sparring in basic training, right?"

"Yes, sir," they answered in tandem.

"Well, we want the two of you to spar on the mats over here, so we can get a general idea of your skills, compare them to how you do following your serums. Does that sound fair to you both?" Blackwell asked. "Sparring ends when one of you pins the other, of course."

Alright. Fair enough, Jack thought as he headed toward the mats, trailing behind Gabriel's toned back. He did not fear any of these things, but he was vaguely worried of getting absolutely whooped by this hulk of a man, in front of their soldier enhancement instructor and the doctor, no less; he was strong and good at what he did, but was he stronger than Reyes?

He gulped, taking the first steps onto the mats. Turning towards Gabriel when they reached the middle, he found the other man smirking at him ever so slightly, golden eyes gleaming, fists clenching at his sides. It made his stomach flip flop.

Oh shit.

This could get bad.

"Begin."

Gabriel lunged at him, fists raised. Jack dodged as quickly as he could, sliding away right before he made contact, allowing Gabriel's arm to miss him, but in the last second, Gabriel switched his footing, turned quickly, and went in again, crowding so close to him, Jack nearly stumbled as he scrambled backwards and knocked his fist away with all his strength.

Typically, during a situation where an opponent was grabbed, they would back off or hesitate for at least a moment and give him an edge, enough for him to intercept and fight back.

Not here.

Gabriel Reyes did not flinch.

Instead, he reared back with his opposite hand. His brain blanked out, as he got lost in the fact that this was, in fact, happening - it surprised him deeply. He almost didn't have time to duck out of the way, bending back as far as he could. Deciding he had a better chance at a distance fight with this beautiful man, he released his hold on his arm and tried to escape sideways.

As he backed up, he realized something horrible.

Gabriel was advancing on him again, crowding his space, in his face so close, Jack wondered how in all the layers of Hell this man was so fast - the smell of his cologne filled his nostrils, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the glisten on his lips, the color of his cheeks. 

_God damn._

Feet stumbling over one another, he kicked as far away as he could.

Yet his attacker still followed at a breakneck speed, until Jack realized with a cold sweat that he had no choice but to get up in his face and fight back, because otherwise, he'd be chased off the mats and lose. Of course, had had a much different fighting style, and he did not think his own skills were best suited for a fight like this, but he'd have to improvise and learn quickly.

Think on his feet.

Rearing his entire body back, he dodged the fast fists coming at a rapid pace, allowing himself a second to suck in a deep breath, before lunging forward, crowding in one him right now. Gabriel hesitated for a second, eyebrows raising - obviously surprised at the challenge. It gave him the edge he had been looking for - the fists paused for a split second, he now had control. With his newfound energy, he rushed at him until their chests bumped together.

Jack pressed his hips against Gabriel's, slipping his leg out and hooking it behind Gabriel's ankle, yanking it out from underneath him. Gabriel toppled it backwards, eyes wide, and Jack threw his weight atop him.

Flat on the mats, he straddled Gabriel, pressing his legs down atop Gabriel's thighs, one forearm spread against his neck and chest, pinning him down, while the other hand locked one of his wrists against the floor.

There was absolute silence between them for several seconds, as eyes with irises blown black stared at up him, chest huffing from exertion. Jack nearly forgot how to breathe.

"Wow!" Blackwell cried enthusiastically. "Impressive! Catch your breath and we'll go again."

From the corner of his eye, he watched Blackwell turn at the sound of Dr. Sexton's voice calling him back over to the medical equipment.

Only then did he remember he was still on top of Gabriel, pinning him down. "Oh, sorry," he mumbled, pushing himself up to his feet. He held his hand out and Gabriel grabbed it, helping him up off the mats. As Jack tried to turn to head back to his shirt, he felt a strong hand close around his wrist and yank him back.

He found himself pressed viciously close to Gabriel's towering body. He stood stock still, peering up at him, jaw clenched.

"You know, I bet you couldn't beat me again." Gabriel smiled, and dear God, it looked like the _sun_.

He let out a thin laugh, more nervous than cocky like he wanted. "Yeah, sure, Reyes. You're just mad a pretty boy beat you, eh?"

Gabriel's brow raised, as he pulled him a little closer, bending slightly.

One second, he was staring up at Gabriel Reyes, at the lines and planes of his face, at the scar running through his dark eyebrow. Everything felt cold and sterile, his brain painfully sober in this room.

The next second, a strange warmth flushed through him. His head immediately began to feel light, and the face hovering above his blurred and swam in front of his vision. There was no necessary dizziness, just this strange feeling he could not quite describe - somewhere between vertigo and three beers into a party, mixed with a very gentle sense of having a fever.

With a horrifying start, Jack yanked away from Gabriel, a shudder coursing through his body. "What the Hell," he whispered.

"Did - did the serum kick in already, 76?" He could hear Blackwell's voice somewhere off in the background, but there was a strange roaring happening in his ears, dampening most of the room's sound.

One second, Jack Morrison was perfectly fine.

The next, he was blacking out.

****

**12 AM**

The raps on the door were hard and quick, and very, very loud.

They seemed to fill Jack's sleepy brain, rousing him from a sleep he had no knowledge of falling into. Jarred and alarmed, he sat bolt straight up in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. With quick eyes, he saw a wall of windows to his left, stars twinkling over the empty field the facility sat inside, a television in front of the bed, mounted on the wall, a seating area and another doorway, probably to a bathroom, to the right side of the room. It was clean and smelled of sterility, like a hospital room and a hotel room, wrapped all into one.

And he had no idea how he got there.

He remembered blacking out after sparring with Gabriel, but anything following that, he had no memory of.

The knocks grew louder and more frantic. They were beginning to vibrate inside his skull, which felt way, way too strange to be considered normal. His body felt hot and feverish, and a strange lightheadedness had begun to swirl inside some recess of his brain.

"Come in!" Jack yelled.

The nearby door opened slowly, then all at once, and Gabriel Reyes slipped inside, clicking it shut behind him. He wore nothing but a tight t-shirt and a pair of jogging pants, feet bare, a black tote bag hanging in one hand. "Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," he whispered back. His gaze trailed along the shape of his thick, strong thighs barely hidden behind the thin gray fabric, and he certainly could not look passed the way it lined what appeared to be a rather large bulge along the front. _Interesting._ His own dick felt uncomfortable pressing against his jeans just then - he shifted in the bed, swallowing hard.

Why did his body still feel so weird?

"Are you okay? I wanted to come check on you." Gabriel ran a hand through his hair, shifting from one foot to the other. "You bit it pretty hard back on the mats."

"Uh, sure, I guess I'm okay. Just feel kinda weird-"

"Yeah, I feel weird, too. Think it's the shit they gave us." Gabriel dropped his tote bag on the floor. "That's... that's not really why I'm here, though."

Jack's raised a slow eyebrow. "Oh? What else are you doing out in the middle of the night? Looking for ladies?" He laughed tightly in the thick air of the room. He sounded like a fucking idiot and he knew it, but his nerves were getting the better of him, the strange heat from the serums building under his skin uncomfortably and rendering him powerless. "Or - or does this have something to do with being an adrenaline junkie?"

His body paused, ceasing all movements for several seconds, leaving Jack with nothing to do but watch.

Then, he made a strange noise, something between a cry and a growl.

A blur of dark clothes came rushing toward him like a natural disaster. Jack barely had time to stand up from the edge of the bed before white hot, rough hands were on him. Everywhere, all at once, caressing either side of his face, pulling him closer - before Jack could even possibly understand what was happening, Gabriel devoured his mouth with an animalistic, feral kiss. 

A small gasp eeked from Jack's mouth as he grabbed hold of Gabriel's collar, his limbs going lax and pliant inside Gabriel's strong arms.

Oh, _fuck_, he kissed the same way he fought.

Overwhelming and demanding, taking control and refusing to give him a second to catch his breath - just like the sparring before, he found himself losing. Again. "_Mmmf_." His hands gently shoved him back. "Gabriel," he whispered, glancing up, trying to catch his breath.

But stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that face, the slow, drug-hazed blinks, the way his tongue darted out to lick the taste of Jack's mouth off his bottom lip. This man was absolutely gone from just kissing him. The picture of him made thirst rush through his buzzed body and land in his crotch, so strong, it hurt like someone had punched him right in the stomach. He nearly doubled over from the sheer power of the blood rushing to his cock and the striking, white hot blaze burning a line thorugh his sudden, painful erection.

He felt it press against Gabriel.

The drunkenness from the serums still buzzed beneath his skin in a pleasant way, but it seemed to expand and grow into a gigantic, breathless, beyond words feeling as Gabriel's lips quirked up and he dove back in for a second taste. This time his movements were confident, tilting his head and diving his tongue into his mouth, licking and tasting and moaning like Jack was the sweetest treat in the entire world. Vicious and unrelenting, Jack thought he may have stopped breathing several times, just clinging to Gabriel's collar, trying to stay upright on his feet.

Because he was drowning.

He couldn't see the surface anymore.

Gabriel finally broke away. "Get naked," he demanded. "Now."

"Oh, _fuck_ yes," was all Jack could choke out in this sweltering cloud of lust. It was so thick, the air could hardly be called breathable or healthy, but it was all he wanted to breathe for the rest of his life. He could survive forever in this room, hot and uncomfortable and perfect.

He almost couldn't get his clothes off fast enough.

He tossed them to God knows where, while Gabriel watched, still fully clothed. Jack thought that was strange as he stepped out of his pants and found himself completely naked in front of this handsome man. His dick was hard and standing to attention, chest heaving, heat rising to the tips of his ears and tingling down his shoulders until he was sure he looked like an obscene, blushing wreck.

"Shit, pretty boy," Gabriel whispered, squeezing his own clothed bulge so hard, Jack could see his knuckles whiten. "You're somethin' else."

As if he compared at all to the work of art standing in front of him.

"Can you get naked, too?" Jack asked shyly.

"Mmm, sorry, I just wanted to see you first." Gabriel carefully pulled off his t-shirt first, that same sexual, practiced movement from earlier that day, before undoing the drawstring on his joggers with quick, skilled hands.

Jack held his breath.

The first peek of skin as the joggers loosened and fell slightly made his heart leap into his throat, eyes glued to the black trail of hair disappearing into the elastic band of tight, black briefs. Gabriel reached a hand into those briefs and released his erection smoothly, and oh, dear, was it a sight to be seen. Jack nearly choked on his own tongue, this cock the purest form of attraction to exist. History books would write seminars about this moment. 

Thick. His frazzled brain could only say that one word for several seconds, before his thoughts caught up to his dazed shock. Thick and dark, longer than Jack's own pulsating erection. Uncut, with just a tease of a much darker crown peeking through, shaved, smooth, veins running along the length. It bobbed under the weight of itself, but Gabriel held it firmly in his large hand.

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Jack stared at the erection with baited breath. He'd never had a partner with such girth before; in fact, he'd only ever bottomed for his partner twice in their relationship, and that gave way to morbid curiosity. 

Because there was no way this man was any sort of submissive.

Gabriel shucked his joggers off the rest of the way, clicking his brain out of its haze, watching intently as he rummaged around in the forgotten tote bag at his feet, pulling out two items and tossing them toward the bed. Jack had enough time to look up at Gabriel's face, before he came rushing in again, hands grabbing his thighs and deadlifting him clean off the ground, as though he weighed nothing instead of the hard mass of muscle the military had trained for the last two years.

His dick downright _ached_ for this man to touch him.

He dumped him atop the large, plush bed.

"Is it okay if I..." He trailed off, squeezing his erection firmly.

Jack didn't even care what the rest of that sentence entailed, he flung his arms around Gabriel's neck and pressed his lips to his jaw. "Yes, yes. Anything."

A growl ripped from Gabriel's throat as he maneuvered himself out of Jack's grip enough to sit up. His firm hands grabbed one of Jack's thighs and lifted it, angling him to expose his entrance, then reached out behind him to grab the items he'd tossed earlier. He more felt the ice cold feeling of the lube dribbling all over his entrance rather than saw it, too entranced by the look of Gabriel sitting above him - he couldn't bring himself to look away, not even when he felt the first finger piercing into him.

This was familiar, easy to relax into, regardless of the man doing it, hovering above him, breathing heavily despite that they'd done nothing yet. Jack spread himself out atop the pillows, breathing deeply.

The second finger jolted him a little, though. Even worse when Gabriel began moving them, fast, stretching, piercing in places that felt good already, skilled in ways Jack couldn't comprehend - or maybe Gabriel had relatively normal skills, and Jack simply felt dramatically good because of his drunken stupor, he couldn't tell.

A third finger slipped inside, twisted and curved, going deep, and, _whoa, holy shit_, nope, he really was that skilled.

Jack's back arched clean off the bed, a desperate moan clawing its way up the back of his throat.

"Mmm," Gabriel hummed. "You're fuckin' hot."

"You're the hot one," Jack mumbled, sweat prickling along his forehead. Those fingers were still pounding into him, relentless, making the ache in his dick worse and worse. Desperately, he flung his hand out, grabbing Gabriel's wrist.

"Ready?" came the gruff reply.

He nodded quickly.

Gabriel reached behind him again to bring out the second item - a silver condom package, which he ripped open easily with his teeth.

Slipping the condom on with ease, he leveled a dangerous look up at Jack.

One that made his heart leap. Butterflies flooded through his core.

He had never been looked at like that before...

Like he was good enough to eat, like Gabriel wanted to devour him.

Gabriel's hands were sweat slick and trembling as they gripped the underside of Jack's thighs and shoved them upward, nearly folding him in half. His knees touched his chest, which was heaving with the effort to just breathe - it felt like someone had zapped the oxygen from the entire room, and replaced it with one thing. Reyes. Gabriel Reyes.

Him and nothing more.

The blunt crown of that impossibly thick cock pressed against his entrance, white hot against the cooling lube all across his private places and slicking his inner thighs, and nothing else mattered anymore.

The first push had Jack crying out, vision blurring with bright sparks, tossing his head back, hands scrambling desperately for purchase until he found the metal headboard just beyond the pillows. One hand gripped the cold rungs as hard as he could, back arching. He wanted to curse. He wanted to yell at Gabriel, or maybe to the Heavens, but his voice was lodged in his throat, the sheer size of Gabriel rendering him unable to speak, unable to breathe.

Tears burned the corners of his eyes as he squeezed them shut.

The aching, vicious pain tearing him apart had busted through the blissful haze of the serums, rendering him utterly sober and far too aware of his current standing. His skin felt too sensitive, buzzing just beneath the skin in a way that had been comfortable just moments before, the hotel room sounded too silent, the air too still; everything began stacking together until it became too much.

Too much.

Too fast.

The first tear trailed down his cheek in a searing hot path, as he blindly felt Gabriel push and push for what seemed like a thousand years, until he bottomed out, his crotch pressed flat against him. White knuckling the headboard, he whined, barely able to do more than squirm beneath him. 

He felt a hand leave one of his thighs. Without the grip, his leg fell, weak and trembling, leaning against Gabriel's hard ribcage.

There was a moment where nothing happened. He could only hear his own harsh breathing in the roaring silent cadence of the room.

Rough fingers slipped across his cheek, wiping away his tears, caressing his cheek, warm and soft and affectionate.

That finally made Jack slowly open his eyes, blurry and wet. Gabriel was hovering over him, head tilted, lips pressed together as he searched over Jack's entire face. There was concern in his brow, the way it was furrowed, but his gaze... It laid him bare. Made him more naked than being spread wide for a man could ever make him feel, because, for lack of a better word, Gabriel Reyes looked like he had found the missing piece of the universe.

Affection poured from him in waves, covering Jack like a warm blanket, hazing the pain and the uncertainty.

The light from the warm lamps illuminated Gabriel's silhouette, making him look like something holy and beautiful.

"Jack," he whispered, voice trembling.

"Yeah?" he breathed, in awe.

"Can I... Are you okay?" he bit out.

Suddenly, so very suddenly, everything _was_ okay. Nothing else within any possible universe could matter beyond the things in that bed. "I'm okay," he said, and it was true.

Gabriel's lips formed a soft, small smile. "Tell me if it's not."

He pulled back, almost to the tip, and slammed back in with a brutal sort of strength and speed. And he didn't let up for a single second, his skills and prowess something unfamiliar to him. Every nerve ending in Jack's body lit aflame, as his back arched against the mattress and he cried out. Every thrust put him on the verge of blacking out. 

Gabriel's cock speared him mercilessly, his body pitching forward, every single breath coming out in bursts of high, loud, staccato cries, knuckles aching at the grip he held on the headboard. Every single thrust felt like a new world opening up in front of his very eyes, experiencing things he didn't have the imagination to even daydream of. The sound of gruff huffs and gasps above him, soft cursing mixing with praises making him want to shed tears all over again.

_Fuck, you're amazing. You're beautiful. You feel great, you smell great, you're **beautiful**_.

On the day he left for basic training, dozens of his loved ones showered him with so many compliments, it had become overwhelming. From how brave he was, how wonderful he was, how bright his future would be and how they were proud of him, believed in him, loved him so much. That day, he remembered thinking how it was nice, it made him feel warm.

But now, crying out in desperation, all those niceties paled in comparison to the words spilling freely from Gabriel Reyes. They thoroughly sunk into his heart and his soul and his mind, they consumed him and devoured him, and he couldn't fucking believe it. 

He couldn't fucking believe it!

Who was this man?

How had he become spellbound in the matter of a few hours?

His brain nearly whited out with panic and over stimulation and pleasure, he actually was almost positive he would have blacked out again, because he became acutely aware of something screeching somewhere in the room around them.

He blinked, trying to focus.

At first, he thought it was coming from himself, but it wasn't, and he felt fairly sure he actually wasn't about to pass out, so he thought it may be coming from Gabriel instead.

Then, he realized, with a start of horror, that it was the metal bedframe beneath him, screaming and creaking with the effort of their fucking, with the punishing, hard pace Gabriel had set. Holy shit, his brain screamed. They were going to destroy government property with their sex - how were they going to explain that tomorrow morning?

Look the instructors in the eyes and tell them their two star pupils had been fucking so hard in the after effects of the days serums, they demolished the hotel room and left each other too wrecked to train. The thought made his dick twitch against his abs, the thought of everyone knowing he'd been with Gabriel, everyone seeing the marks he'd left trailed across his body and his neck, the bruises in his thighs from his strong hands.

Suddenly, he wanted everyone to know.

Here, in this hotel room, he forgot about Indiana. He forgot about Vincent, and even who he had been before he joined the military program and met this man in that darkened room, and he only became this moment. Floating. Nothing outside of him and Gabriel existed, time didn't exist. All his thoughts and all the warmth he'd been supplied during this escapade. The compliments, the excitement, the ache for someone to see his bruises, the sound of a deep voice sighing with pleasure above him. They all compiled all at once until tears stung behind his eyes.

Something in the cavern of his chest ached, and ached, and _snapped._

But he shoved that down, deep into the recesses of shadows.

He'd deal with it later.

Much later.

In a glimmer of hope, distracting him, Gabriel bolted upright, releasing his grip on the headboard and straightening himself up enough to grab Jack's erection and frantically, erratically jerk it with all his strength as his thrusts became rougher, harder, faster. The brand new sensation almost tipped him right over the edge. 

But then, came a soft whisper of, _God damn, you're gorgeous._

That was all he needed.

He barely had time to cry out Gabriel's name before his climax raced down his spine, punching the breath out of him like a gunshot to the stomach and cutting off his cries, leaving him gawking at the ceiling as he spurted hotly over Gabriel's rough hand. It seemed like the tremors of his orgasm lasted forever, the white flashes of light blotting out the ceiling, all the while Gabriel fucking him through it.

Before he'd even come all the way down, Gabriel thrust so hard and so deep, Jack cried out again, the sensation wracking through his body and his post-orgasm haze like a wildfire, relighting all his wants and needs like he hadn't just cum all over the place five seconds earlier. 

Gabriel came with a soft sigh and fingers placing bruises on his inner thighs. Jack thought they would never heal, as he exerted every bit of energy into just trying to catch his breath again; he didn't think any part of his body would ever heal from this wayward, clandestine encounter. Most especially his heart and soul, though. His mind.

He would never forget it.

"Jack?"

"Hmm?"

"You good?" He felt a hand trail along his cheek, down to caress his jaw.

Jack slowly opened eyes he hadn't realized he'd closed, and Gabriel was all he could see, hovering above him, glistening with sweat, dark hair falling from it's previous style to land messily along his forehead and into his eyes. His body felt warm and content, hazy, and maybe it was the serums. Maybe it was the mysterious injections with the full page of side effects, mixing with sleep deprivation, endorphins, and the best sex of his life, but he felt loved. He felt cared for, just by the simple touch of his mystery man's hand against his cheek.

The question flitted around in his brain for a few moments.

In lieu of an answer, Jack tossed his arms around Gabriel's neck and pulled him down to claim his lips with a fiery, desperate kiss.

**5 AM**

They fucked all night.

After he caught his breath, Jack helped Gabriel remove the first condom and swallowed him down in a vivid act of bravery and courage. The other man was very gentle, stroking his hair and encouraging him and showering him with compliments, even when he placed a hand on the nape of his neck and began fucking his mouth with long, slow, even strokes. He tasted like dreams come true.

Eventually, Gabriel deadlifted him and fucked him against the huge windows, whispering against his ear, _"I hope everyone can see you right now,"_ until he drew blood with his fingernails digging into beautiful tanned skin and came so hard, Gabriel pressed a hand to his mouth to keep him quiet while he railed him through it. He carried him to the bed afterwards, spreading him out on his back and sucking him in a way that made his previous blowjob seem like child's play, but he was so thankful when he shot down in his throat in what had to be the longest orgasm of his entire life.

He didn't think he could go on. He thought he might die.

A spark lit underneath his skin all over again, though, when Gabriel curled around him beneath the blankets, warm, pressing his erection him until he reached behind him and gently led him to his entrance again. No condom, and he couldn't find the strength to care, losing himself in the lazy strokes, the too deep sensations.

And that was how he'd ended up there, he remembered, dazed. Fucked out and exhausted, but limp and calm.

The hands soothing along his ribcage had quickly turned into hands washing him, gentle quietness beneath a warm spray of fiery hot water. Gabriel didn't say much as they showered, simply whispered soft things every once in a while, told him they would have to get dressed in a few minutes to avoid some embarrassing looks when Blackwell came for their check up.

Everything he said, no matter how small, warmed Jack from the inside out.

They eventually dressed when the sun began rising over the facility grounds, casting the disheveled room in a calm and eerie blue glow, and allowing shadows to dance across Gabriel's handsome features. The color reflected in his dark irises, almost silver, ethereal.

Beautiful.

Breathtaking.

They kissed one last time before begrudgingly slipping out into the empty hallway and waiting for Blackwell's arrival. The rest of the morning went by at a slow, agonizing pace, as the exhaustion from the night before began sinking into his bones. Dr. Sexton took their vitals as Blackwell disappeared somewhere. Dr. Sexton gave them another smaller serum to take after she looked at the information.

"To balance your body," she'd said, but Jack didn't question and took the injection in silence.

Then, she pointed them to a door across the hall and told them to wait in the chairs in front of the desk for Blackwell to return. They did. 

Blackwell entered not five minutes later with a loud screech from the door and the ruffling of a large stack of papers in his hands, separated into two files. "Hello, 24, 76."

"Hello," they answered in tandem.

Blackwell sat down at the desk in front of them, slapping the stack of papers on top. He took a deep breath, picking up a pen, considering the top page with a set jaw before pulling out a second page and placing it beside the first. "So, you made it through the night. Did you have any issues yesterday?" His pen scrawled out the words Jack Morrison on one page, then Gabriel Reyes on the other.

Jack's knee bounced nervously.

He wondered if they found the state of his room yet.

"Jack and me were fine all night," Gabriel answered, crossing his arms and confidently leaning back in his chest. His thick thighs were spread wide - Jack consciously made an effort not to glance at them.

They'd just spent the entirely of the night tangled up in each other, he refused to let himself crave that tanned skin again.

"Did you notice any difference in your strength? Speed?" Blackwell continued.

Visions of Gabriel dead lifting him against the window, bending the bedframe, and moving him around at a shocking speed snapped into Jack's mind.

"Yes," they both answered.

"And side effects, such as nausea?"

"No."

"Lightheadedness?"

"No."

"Increase in libido?"

The pause in the room became deafening. They'd had sex nearly four times after the first encounter, each session lasting longer than Jack ever remembered lasting before.

"Huge increase," Gabriel answered.

"Uh, yes." Jack's ears burned.

"I see." The instructed looked at both of them, as though he knew what they'd done, then jotted something down on both papers. Probably how immoral they were. "Any changes in sensations? Whether it be lack thereof, or were they heightened?"

"Heightened," both in unison again.

So heightened, he almost passed out during their third round, when Gabriel swallowed him down all the way until he came down his throat. It was the best he had ever felt in his entire life, sensitive and responsive, leading to orgasms that nearly made him black out.

"I have a question. Will these effects last for a long time, or are they short lived?" Because fuck knows he'd love to feel that way again. Getting addicted to the serums side effects would be easy, something he wouldn't be opposed to.

"In some earlier subjects, the effects lasted up to a week, and then other times, the effects were permanent. Your own experience will be entirely unique to your genetic makeup." Blackwell tilted his head carefully, eyeing Jack in particular. "I will say, I went over your exams before I came in here and that was what I wanted to discuss with both of you."

Gabriel leaned forward, steepling his fingers over his knees. "What do you mean?"

"Your vitals are both very interesting, especially you, 76." He lifted a paper. "Your temperature is elevated, as well as your blood pressure, so I want you to stay in your room without training for a while longer. Maybe about three days, and then you can begin your training."

"Oh?" Jack swallowed hard.

"What about me?" Gabriel asked.

"Your only strange vital was your heart rate. It spiked several times during your exam for no reason, the nurse said."

Jack blinked as Gabriel's entire body stiffened. He didn't question it, just tried to listen as Blackwell continued.

"So, if you feel up to it, 24, you can join the recruits. However, if you still feel strange from the serums, you can stay in the facility without training for a couple days as well."

"I'll stay a while longer," he answered a little too quickly. "I'm still feeling a little buzzed."

Jack's brain overloaded, his vision swimming at the sheer lust that boiled up in him at the sound of Gabriel's proclamation. He wanted to stay with him for the week, in his room; he knew Gabriel lied about feeling the effects as an excuse to stay with him, he could feel it in the pit of his stomach. Knowing this sent a tantalizing chill down his spine.

Because it was wrong how much he truly wanted to spend the next three days in the arms of Gabriel Reyes.

So much so, he began feeling a deep regret in his core.

The feeling settled into his soul as the first moment he realized he'd _never_ be the goodhearted, kind, innocent hero he'd always dreamed of being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy!!! This chapter nearly killed me because I'm my own worst critic and I literally hate myself now.
> 
> Come scream at me on Twitter: [HollyLeighannee](https://twitter.com/HollyyLeighanne)  



	3. Commander Reyes.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sin #2: Lying to Gabriel Reyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry you came here for porn and instead are reading 34 pages, 15,000 words of self indulgent bullshit with a little sprinkling of smut. This chapter is waaaaaay more dialogue heavy than I meant it to be. FORGIVE ME.

_And, when I see you waking up_

_And it sends me shivers_

_How you love like weapons kill_

_So take aim at me for once_

_Just take aim, break me apart_

_Call, won’t you call out my name?_

_Like a curse on this world?_

_Like a battle cry?_

_And you make me hate myself_

_Make me tear my body_

_Make me yearn for your embrace_

**February 16th 2050**

**9 PM**

Jack Morrison stared out the tall windows of the Overwatch headquarters, swaying slightly from side to side as his gaze took in the gentle snow falling along the red roofed buildings of the beautiful city their HQ loomed over. Night had descended before they arrived via aircraft to their new location, traveling for hours to reach it from their press conference in America, but he felt kind of thankful to experience it in this sort of splendor for the first time.

The buildings lay in a swirl along a cobblestone street, forming a semi circle around a high steepled brick church. The street continued in a topsy-turvy fashion until they broke around an even larger, more extravagant steeple, lit up from top to bottom in golden light and making the snow on it's peak glitter magically in the moonlight. The streets sat empty, save for the streetlights casting eerie glows and shadows along the pristine white blanket. The night colors made everything blue, battling with the gold of the lights and the black and silver of the sky hanging above.

A mountain raised high in the background, covered thickly in periwinkle snow, wispy clouds covering the peak and blotting out the crescent moon hanging low.

This was the last place he thought he'd end up in his adult years; a beautiful, cold wonderland, the entire city spread out in front of their tall, hilltop building.

The beauty awed him from the first second he saw it when they walked in just twenty minutes earlier, the first time seeing their dedicated headquarters with his teammates trailing behind him, chattering and talking about how big and spacious and amazing it was to finally have a place they could call their home away from home. This room was a general common area, scattered with armchairs and a drink station, a fridge full of beverages and tables and bookshelves, and the entire far wall peered down over their new city, floor to ceiling windows across the entire side of the room. Through a small archway on the left side of the room, an entire kitchen could be seen, fully stocked, large oven, dishwasher, microwave, dining table. Everything they'd need.

Jack agreed; it certainly was nice to have a place they could lay their heads down now...

Now that they had returned from their several years long fight against the Omnics across the world.

Where they had ended the Omnic Crisis, just their small group.

Jack Morrison had been hailed a _hero_.

It had taken work and blood and sweat and tears, and he'd considered giving up a few times on the battlefield, when it just seemed impossible and too dangerous for their little team - because how could a ragtag group of strangers defeat the Omnics? He had no idea, because the leaders of this team, dubbed Overwatch, were just kids. A couple of twenty-year-olds who had no idea what they were doing at first.

Yet, they did it.

It took years, but they did it.

They defeated the Omnics, they ended the crisis.

They saved the world.

Jack had saved the world like everyone in Indiana told him he would. Three wounds lay along his back that proved he'd put his entire life on the line, fresh and still sore beneath his heavy coat, bandaged carefully by Ana every other day. 

This, however... His current predicament, which he kept thinking about the snow and his accomplishments to completely avoid, _did not_ make him feel great.

Apparently, whilst they were gone for years on the battlefield, there had been a large influx of mail for them all back at their old station. They came by way of the rest of their belongings, but were stacked in the new common room like a precarious tower of things he did not want to think about or relive.

_Fuck._

_Everything._

He hadn't been back to Indiana since he met Gabriel in the soldier enhancement program. They'd gone from taking injections, to flinging themselves right into the line of battle - the front lines, then they were placed into their new team, the place they'd ended up now. A new military group called Overwatch. A group of heroes - that they led. He and Gabriel.

Indiana hadn't crossed his mind in years.

Vincent hadn't crossed his mind in even longer.

Yet here he was, standing in the room of a building that should have made his entire world feel alight with thanks and happiness, because he had finally made it to where he wanted to be, he had at long last fulfilled his dream, and a few simple words printed across a shipping label had put a screeching halt to his internal celebration - across the label on top of the small 6 x 6 box in front of him read Vincent's name and childhood address. On another box were the names of Vincent's parents, same address. Several envelopes held the names of their childhood friends, from houses he'd been to a hundred times - and he'd just outright _forgotten_ about them.

_I'll break up with him when I get the chance to go back,_ he'd told himself when all this first started, right after he understood Gabriel Reyes was not someone you could only sleep with once. Long enough for it to be considered heinous and extraordinarily terrible. He thought it was bad cheating on him once during the first day of the enhancement program - but what he and Gabriel had been doing since then was far worse, far more lewd, and much more heart breaking if anyone found out about it.

Plus, at some point over the last several years of being gone on active duty, he'd forgotten of his existence altogether.

He bit down, hard, on his lower lip, until he tasted metallic on his tongue. Should he read them? Should he throw them away? Should he write Vincent a letter? _Should he fucking open them?_ If he opened them, he'd have to read them. Actually read them. The love written on the pages, the encouragement, the well wishes and hopes of his thriving.

Vincent spelling out how he was still waiting for him, how they were still together, despite Jack having forgotten about their relationship a long time ago.

His fingers carefully turned the letter over, raised it to the light of the window, hopeful.

_Oh, but wait._

A light bulb exploded inside his head.

What if Vincent had beat him to it? What if he wrote him a letter saying it was time to call it quits? What if he found another boyfriend? He'd been gone for so long, and they were just kids when they started dating; no way in the seven levels of Hell was he still waiting for him.

Behind him, he heard the shouts and cries of happiness as the rest of his team began digging through their own torrents of mail. Their voices had the tenor of people enjoying their packages and letters, none of them sounded horribly distraught.

"My wife sent me a care package," Sojourn said.

"My friends from the Crusaders sent me... what is this? Beer?" Reinhardt laughed heartily, always effervescent, the light of any room.

"Can you even take beer across borders?" Liao piped up.

"Oh, my goodness, Fareeha sent me a drawing," Ana's voice, filled with elation and gentle affection, reached him the most, forcing him to finally glance over his shoulder at his team members and away from his own personal Hell.

Sojourn sat in a pile of sparkling tissue paper on the floor, atop a plush rug, surrounded by items he couldn't pinpoint. Ana was waving a scrawled, messy drawing in front of Reinhardt's face, who was clapping his gigantic hands happily together, excited about her excitement, ever the soft gentleman. Liao, bent over Reinhardt's giant box of beer, no longer cared about privacy and was digging through the items.

Torbjorn Lindholm was the only one sitting silently, holding just a letter in one hand as he apparently read it over and over again in one of the room's various armchairs, a few other letters sitting on the small table at his side. Jack leaned his lower back against the windowsill behind him, tilting his head.

Though he wasn't their commander, every person in that room had become family to him. He loved them, and he would die for them, no matter how or when or why. They'd been through the fires of Hell and back together and came out stronger, a solid unit. A family. A _team_. Warmth filled his heart just looking at them. Over the last ten years, he never knew he could love people so dearly that he wasn't sleeping with or related to, but he'd been proven wrong.

On the battlefield, he'd seen Ana nearly die to save Reinhardt's life. Liao had held Sojourn's hand while she got a bullet removed from her shoulder, and Torbjorn had spoke at length about his past in gangs and strange hijinks to bring everyone's humor back to a safe place during hard and dark times. And when an Omnic had sneaked up on Gabriel for the first time in their entire war and the impact of the ensuing battle knocked him clean out, Reinhardt had picked him up and carried him to safety, shielding Gabriel with his gigantic body like a true Crusader.

He remembered those few seconds, watching his team rally around Gabriel, and the way his heart had grown larger than it ever had. 

Then, there were the good, easy times, relaxing after a long battle, after they'd saved another area from the invaders. Gabriel Reyes at his side, and whom he'd fallen the most in love with from the second they met, Ana. He had fond memories of celebrating successful missions with churros, sitting around a small table in the late night hours at the only restaurant still open during the war, huddled against Gabriel's body, Ana laughing and telling them of her daughter.

So full of love, honest and true love, he'd never experienced it before.

Pushing away from the windowsill, he abandoned his own worries in the box pile. He carefully placed himself in Torbjorn's neighboring chair, but the man didn't even look away from his letter. Hesitantly, quietly, he asked, "Everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah, well-" Torbjorn looked up at him, but his gaze seemed far off, somewhere else, lost. Jack could not begin to understand the emotions on his face. "Just got to read my wife's letters to me and apparently I'm having a baby girl, they finally caught a good look at her-"

"Wait!" Reinhardt cried, twisting around and dragging Ana along with him. His outburst brought the attention of Liao and Sojourn as well, who stood from their own items. "You're having a daughter?"

"Yes," Torbjorn said. "My first baby is a girl."

"Your _first_ baby?" Sojourn laughed, pushing up close to crowd at his chair side with everyone else. "You want more than one?"

"Of course! Don't cha want children of your own?" Torbjorn tilted his head back to look at all of them behind him.

"No!" Sojourn answered with conviction, shaking her hands rapidly in front of her. "I'm perfectly fine just having my wife forever. I don't need anything else."

"Oh, yeah, you're right, that is wonderful," Torbjorn replied. "My wife is the whole reason I want all those kids. She's an angel. I want a house filled with twelve of her."

"Gross," Liao slapped him on the shoulder, his brow knit and his nose scrunched up. "Love is gross."

"No, it's not," Ana chastised. "You'll understand when you find someone special."

"Like Hell I will." Liao glanced sideways at Jack, and he didn't have any time to prepare before they set their sights on him, each and every member of his team turnig their gaze to him. "Captain, back me up. Isn't love gross? I've never heard you say anything about a girlfriend before."

"Uh..." Oh no.

Ana tilted her own head, long, silken black hair falling over her shoulder, her Horus tattoo a stark shadow against her skin. As a deadly sniper, she was the prettiest, most angelic woman Jack thought he'd ever seen. "Jack, I've never asked. _Do_ you have someone you love?"

"Maybe," Jack blurted out.

But he wasn't thinking of the letters in the corner.

No, he saw flashes of tanned skin and scars on biceps and a black coat and precise aim.

He swallowed hard, as his words made a ripple of intrigue flush through his team.

"Tell us who our captain is in love with!" Sojourn demanded.

They were far too energetic for the last two weeks of business they'd had. He sighed, wiping a hand across his face. "I'd really... rather not, it's... complicated," he mumbled against his palm. "I don't know how he feels about me - it's complicated."

"Oh, he?" Reinhardt's eyebrows spiked up dramatically. "I see. I didn't know that."

"Me, neither," Ana said with a strange lilt in her voice, her expression unreadable. "Alright, alright, let's leave Jack alone, then."

Jack sighed with relief, pressing a hand against his chest. Though he loved them deeply, he doubted he'd ever be ready to tell them he'd been banging their beloved commander for years.

Things fell back into an easy conversation, so Jack sat with them, forgetting his own pile of mail in lieu of their happy, bustling laughs and boisterous drinks of celebration. Those things could come later, the stress and the sad feelings, the words he didn't want to read - they could wait.

Things were good.

He couldn't remember a time he had ever been so happy, so at ease, so _at home_.

All he needed was Gabriel to come back, then everything would be perfect.

**February 16th 2050**

**11:45 PM**

It had been two weeks since he got to see Gabriel Reyes up close and personal.

When they put down the last Omnic, they contacted the military and were immediately whisked away to facilities to answer questions, to contact other watchpoints to make sure they were, in fact, gone from every location. Once they received word that it was, the press conferences, the meetings, the celebrations from foreign leaders began in an uncontrollable whirlwind. They barely had time to sleep and breathe, let alone see each other in a personal capacity.

Then, they'd sent himself and the rest of the team to their HQ while they kept Gabriel behind, because, after all, he was the commander of Overwatch and they needed him for secret, special meetings of some sort. Perhaps about their next mission, he wasn't sure - he never got the chance to do more than wave goodbye to him before they shoved him on an aircraft and flew off, Gabriel still standing on the tarmac, watching them go, black coat billowing out behind him until it looked like dark shadows and smoke around his feet.

Luckily, walking in and seeing the mail and packages distracted him from this knowledge for a while.

Eventually, though, the rest of the team gathered their things and went to sleep, leaving Jack alone to find his own bedroom, which ended up being up a staircase and at the far end of a new hallway, his last name written across the front. A simple room filled with his duffel bags and belongings, a desk with what appeared to be a brand new computer and chair, and a large bed in the corner, facing another set of windows. There was a closet and a television set and a plush armchair.

And loneliness.

He'd tossed his clothes off and climbed in the unfamiliar bed, stared at the ceiling for a total of twenty seconds, before he realized something terrible.

Perhaps he'd gotten a little too reliant on the feeling of Gabriel's warm skin against him while he slept.

During their times at different watchpoints and on the front lines, it was harder, but Gabriel always found a way to curl up with him, drape his jacket over Jack's shoulders, one arm holding his body as they slept slumped against a wall or in a corner, on the dirt or in unfamiliar seedy motels, abandoned buildings. Their team would be resting just a little bit away from them, ready to wake up at any given moment, but Gabriel would still go out of his way to steal kisses and touch him, whisper in his ear how much he wanted him.

Ana's words slowly began slinking back into his ears, like a ghost taunting him. _Do you have someone you love?_

Jack sighed, throwing his arm over his eyes.

His answer had been stupid. Premeditated. Ill advised. _Yeah._ Pfft, as if.

He only had one person he remotely felt anything towards, but love?

Impossible.

Their physical relationship was built on an unsteady foundation to begin with. What started as rushed hands from a genetic altering drug, became rushed, _we're alive, we made it, we aren't dead_ sloppy fucks and secret kisses built on death and war. They'd never talked about anything in depth, beyond their lives and themselves; Gabriel never mentioned what they were, so Jack didn't ask.

In war, getting attached to someone not knowing if you could be alive tomorrow, was ill-fated and dumb and risky, so Jack refused to say anything - he promised himself he wouldn't bring it up until they were off the front lines. Not until he knew they would be alive, not until he knew this wasn't just physical, not until he was sure they hadn't been teeming on adrenaline so hard, they had no control over themselves.

Being at dead center of the Omnic Crisis, saving the world, holding lives in their hands, it was a lot to deal with. That's what he chalked it up to each time he had a long night to himself and his thoughts. Stress.

For Hell's sake, they were keeping their entire team alive, and all of their team had family of some sort they wanted to return to. Ana had a daughter, Sojourn a wife, Torbjorn expecting his first child, Reinhardt carrying the weight of The Crusaders on his shoulders, Liao sending money back to his family to care for his sick sister. They held the weight of the world on their shoulders as their commander and captain, shouldered it together from the start, then took it out on each other, sex being their combined effort of release.

It was easy, it helped, it got them through really difficult and bloody nights surrounded by ruins of homes and fallen husks of the Omnics. More than once, they'd been covered in their own blood as they fucked in a frenzied rush, spreading red slick across each other's thighs and jaws and dicks.

It was sick and unsanitary, but it kept Jack off the ledge.

In those moments, Gabriel Reyes had gotten under his skin, becoming what some might snidely call a security blanket. They were right, as much as he hated himself for it; this was his security blanket. He'd become able to rely on Gabriel more than he'd relied on anyone in his adult life. In fact, Gabriel was all he knew for that adult life. Gabriel, the military, Overwatch.

Room in his heart existed for nothing else.

Jack let his arm fall from his face and stared up at the ceiling, studying the shadows splashed across it.

To say he had no idea what to call themselves would be an understatement. He flat out adored Gabriel, into his bones, into the fiber and filament of his soul, yet he refused to ask what they were.

If Gabriel looked at him and said, _I don't want you that way_, his entire soul would be crushed underneath his boots. Recovering from those words were not an option, so he couldn't bring himself to ask and his lover did not seem like the type to outwardly say something as weak as _I want you to be my boyfriend._

Jack outwardly jerked his shoulder. 

Ugh.

_Boyfriend._

On second thought, perhaps boyfriend was too dumb a word to put to their relationship. It seemed like so much more, it felt like the most meaningful existence in the universe when Gabriel grabbed him and kissed more, more akin to lightning strikes hitting in the same spot. Two tornadoes spawning from the same funnel cloud. Crazy, rare, dangerous, fascinating. He wasn't sure any word could put a label on them.

Thus, he understood why Gabriel never brought it up.

Maybe Jack would feel more inclined to talk about it if not for this.

Well, that and the overwhelming fear of Gabriel saying he was nothing more than a fuck toy for his own amusement.

A shudder coursed through him. No, thank you. That sounded like a fate worse than death, worse than fighting on the frontlines. Causing infighting amongst Overwatch would be the final verdict, and their team deserved better than that.

Basically, he had a thousand reasons to not mention anything. All of them under the facade of being selfless.

When they were 100% selfish.

Because he was, yet again, a **coward**.

Gabriel wasn't a coward, though.

So he could never find out he was sleeping with one.

Just thinking about it sent shivers down his spine, but ultimately made his entire world feel a little colder. Stupid empty room. Stupid empty bed. Jack tossed himself onto his back so that he faced the only window in his new, unfamiliar room. The eerie blue light of the moon reflecting off mounds of sparkling white snow cast his entire room in a solemn, lonely color, splashing shadows along walls and in corners he didn't know yet.

It made him yearn for the familiar plains he knew well, and yet not well enough at all.

The tanned skin and warm gaze. The rough hands that knew how to touch him like he'd been doing it for a thousand years, not just the short time they'd known each other. The way he whispered his name or laughed happily in the nape of his neck, or the way he smelled. They hadn't been separated much over their short time together, inseparable, glued at the hip. 

_Fuck._

When was he getting back? Did the generals truly need him for that much time? They'd _just_ gotten back from their publicity tours following the downfall of the Omnics, the least they could do was let Overwatch's Strike Commander relax for ten minutes.

He rolled back onto his side, grabbing for his communications device left somewhere on his desk, blindly scrambling around for it in the dark. Fingertips hitting every other possible thing, including water bottle he forgot he brought with him, he finally found it tucked near the back. He grabbed it happily and tucked it into his ear, pressing every single button until he heard the familiar hum of white noise radio waves.

"Gabriel?" he called out. 

Silence.

"Are you there?_ Ga-a-a-abe._"

More silence, just white noise.

"I hope you still have your comm on our frequency, Gabriel. It's Jack." His fingers distractedly began picking at a loose thread on his new comforter, giddy with the thought of hearing his commander's voice if he picked up. The last two weeks had been very, very long. "You remember me, right? Jack Mo-"

Rustling filled his ear, halting him.

Then...

"Pretty boy," Gabriel's voice filled his ear full force, interrupting him, husky and deep in the same way it sounded right after he woke up. His chest swelled at the thought of him sleeping peacefully in a real bed and not on the dirt. Along with the happiness, that deep voice ignited a spark deep in the base of his relaxed cock, as it always did. "Mm, thought I heard your voice, bu' figured I was just dreamin' 'bout you."

"You dream about me?" Dazed, he wondered if he was actually the one in the midst of a very good dream.

"Every fuckin' night." Gabriel cleared his throat. "You okay, though? What's got you callin' me so late? Isn't it midnight there or something?"

Jack leaned his head back onto his pillows, staring up at the ceiling. "Yeah, it is. I'm fine, was just... wondering what you were doing, I guess."

There was a pause. He heard shuffling around and a deep sigh in his ear. "So, you missed me?"

Jack ignored _that_ particular thread he certainly didn't want to pull at. Quickly, he changed the subject, "What are you doing? Have they been torturing you?"

"They got me in some swanky ass hotel in God knows where. I've sat through five meetings already today, but I'm done now."

"Done?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm comin' to the new place tomorrow."

Jack bit back the elation threatening to bubble over inside him. Shit, he'd been dying to see him for days now. "Oh, really?" he said instead, casually. Cool. Easy going. Not at all desperate and pathetic, a man just itching to see his face, hear his voice, breathe his scent, until he felt grounded again.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

Ooh, another thread he didn't want to pull at.

"Mhm. Told them I couldn't be away from you for that long," Gabriel continued, unaware. "There's nothing pretty to look at here."

Butterflies swirled in his core. Upon first hearing his voice, deep from sleep, his dick had jumped to attention, as it usually did when his strike commander was involved, but this - oh, ho, this was something different. Warmth and happiness and affection filled his soul. He settled further back into his large pile of pillows and palmed his hardening erection through the fabric, a sigh slipping from his lips. "There's nothing pretty to look at here, either," he whispered. "Nothing good to listen to. I - I missed your voice, a little."

"Missed your voice, too," Gabriel's voice sounded soft, but strained. "I... I, Jack..."

"Hmm?"

"What did you really call me for?"

Jack exhaled heavily. "I was just thinking about you. I've gotten used to sleeping with you."

"Mmm, is that right? Why?"

Jack whined under his breath, more like a humid huff of air. "I don't know," he lied.

A gruff laugh filled the comm, husky. It shot like lightning through Jack's entire body. "Can't sleep till I make you cum, huh?"

His hand tensed. 

Fuck. It's like he knew what he was doing under the blankets.

He must have made a sound, because he heard Gabriel give one all-knowing huff. "Thought so."

"Sorry," Jack mumbled, tips of his ears heating. Though he didn't know why he felt the need to apologize when this whole situation was Gabriel's fault in the first place. He'd basically conditioned him to need to hear his voice and be touched by his familiar fingers before he could fall asleep, too worked up with stress and anger and guilt most nights to do it on his own.

But Gabriel had always worked him through it.

"Mm, don't be sorry," Gabriel said softly. "I jacked off to the thought of you this morning."

Jack quickly stored that sentence away for future nights alone, a whine in the back of his throat desperately wanting to wrench its way out.

"So, go ahead. Touch yourself for me, Jack."

Yes! His brain screamed, almost loading and whiting out completely, as he slipped his hand into his pajamas and finally grabbed his hot, pulsating erection, fingers encircling the length, squeezing once tightly to alleviate the tension. His mouth fell open on a lusty sigh. "Fuck, okay, I'm touching myself," he finally managed to choke out.

"Shit," Gabriel swore. "Yeah, make yourself cum. I wanna hear it. I _need_ to hear you."

His hand stuttered on the sound of Gabriel's desperate words as he tried to frantically start up an even rhythm, faster than he would usually go, but he couldn't stop himself - not with Gabriel saying he needed to hear him, asking him to do these things. Holy fuck, he couldn't believe it.

Jack tossed his head against his pillows, the fire in his core building hotly. When he finally did allow himself to moan, it came out much louder, much rawer than he meant it to - he almost slapped his free hand over his mouth, but then, he heard Gabriel gasp in his ear.

"Fuck, baby." He heard the sound of Gabriel's own breathing get faster, he could've sworn he heard him yanking out the drawstring of his favorite sweatpants. "Sorry I'm not there to take care of you. These assholes didn't really need me here, you know."

"I need you here." The words left his lips before he could stop them. They sounded lame and desperate, and he didn't want Gabriel to laugh at him because he said ridiculous things while he was horny out of his mind.

But Gabriel growled, the sound vibrating down his spine and landing straight in his dick. He groaned, tossing his head back further and swirling his hand around the crown of his dick, whipping away the ungodly amount of precum seeping all over his sheets. His palm slicked it down the length of his shaft before starting up his race to orgasm again.

Closing his eyes, he tried to picture his lover's face, leaning close, kissing, grabbing his cock and stroking it hard and fast, a soft, heady whisper demanding he cum immediately, simply at the sound of his voice. Begging him to obey. With almost little to no effort, he could see him perfectly. The angles. The deep eyes. The enticing mouth that spoke sharply and viciously when needed, and the strong jawline that made Jack weak in the knees.

The sensations only heightened with his thought. "Gabriel," he moaned. "Fuck, Gabriel-"

"Oh, my fucking God," the voice coming through the comm sounded angry and desperate, turned on and ready to kill.

Jack ate it up. He loved when Gabriel got that tone in his voice, like he wanted to devour him, hold him down and choke him like an enemy; it was the biggest aphrodisiac in existence. "Are you touching yourself, too?"

"Of course I am," Gabriel gruffed. "Listening to you like this is borderline illegal."

Ha! As if Gabriel didn't exist as the most illegal looking person in the universe. His features, his attitude, his art of seduction - if there were laws against that kind of thing, he'd be thrown in jail forever.

Gabriel hummed out a muffled moan. "_Fuck_, lemme touch you tomorrow."

He'd only been waiting two weeks to hear those words. "Yes, please-"

"Let me sneak you into the nearest room and hold you down and fuck you." In the background, Jack became acutely aware of a familiar wet sound, fast and harsh, just the way his lover liked it.

Oh, shit, he hadn't imagined those words in their weeks apart, though. His hand couldn't move fast enough in their wake, the fire in his gut building and building. So close to release, he could almost taste it.

"Let me - fuck - let me make you scream. I want that whole place to know who you belong to."

"_Yes_, Gabe." 

"Tomorrow night, I'll probably be there by seven. I want you to get yourself ready for me before I get there, so I can immediately fuck you the second I see you. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes!" Dear _f u c k_, his hand squeezed harder, tried to move faster, his balls tightening into near painfulness. The thought of fucking himself and stretching himself just for the sole purpose of Gabriel tackling him the second they laid eyes on each other... The thought sounded so sinful, he could barely hold himself back from cumming right then. The ensuing heat built so fast, he cried out something that could have been his lover's name, or he could have been speaking in tongues, it was hard to tell.

"Who do you belong to, pretty boy?" Gabriel huskily whispered, all sex and seduction. "Tell me. Tell everyone."

"Ah - ah!" There it is, there it is, he was so close. "You! _You._ I - I belong-"

The sound of Gabriel's loud, long, gruff groan as he came filled Jack's ear and shot him right off the edge. His orgasm hit him in a tidal wave as he came over his own hand powerfully, his voice caught in his throat on the sound of Gabriel's name again.

Grey ebbed at his vision. His chest rose and fell so harshly it hurt, unable to catch his breath.

They both sat in utter silence for several minutes, nothing but the sound of harsh gasps, Jack trying his hardest to gain control of his own body again. He wasn't sure how long he blindly stared at the dark window, repeating _what the fuck_ in his head, before he heard rustling through the comms again.

Of course. Gabriel always recovered first. So strong.

"Mmm, okay, pretty boy. You better get some sleep," he said gently, delicate.

"Okay," he agreed.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Jack."

After they hung up, he fell asleep without another issue.

**February 17th 2050**

**7:34 PM**

The morning and day blurred into one long wait that stretched and stretched until it became a legitimate Hell. They had nothing to do yet, as the generals were still attending meetings with Gabriel and other facilities, so the entire Overwatch team was left to their own devices in unfamiliar headquarters, in an unfamiliar city, in a country of which no one spoke the language. Jack found himself just walking around in a daze, waiting for the sounds of the doors to open as he took two bites of breakfast, drank way too much coffee, and nodded through the typical morning conversations between himself and his team.

During lunch, he absentmindedly cooked for everyone, then didn't eat and escaped to his bedroom for another several hours, staring out the window, at his comm, at his new company issued computer, investigating. He found it had video chatting capabilities and he could connect to his team's comms from his own computers under a rather suspicious app literally titled Overwatch.

Then, the day began edging down, people retiring to their rooms to relax while they waited for someone to order food for dinner, or for someone to get around to cooking.

Swallowing hard, he followed through with Gabriel's wishes.

Prepping himself at 7 PM in the safety of his own bedroom was an adventure he never thought he'd be doing, especially not using a photo Ana had taken of their entire team the day they left for their first tour. His gaze zeroed in on his commander and he fucked himself on lube slick fingers until tears pricked at his eyes and he could hear his own harsh breaths over the sounds of the team walking up and down the hallway.

Afterwards, he threw himself into their new shower area - which, thankfully, was filled with separate stalls so they had some semblance of privacy. A lucky break because his dick was embarrassingly hard and aching, standing straight up and to attention; this ended with him fingering himself again in the shower, unable to stop himself, dreaming of his commander.

Fucking Gabriel.

God dammit.

He shouldn't have been so horribly hot last night, he shouldn't have asked him to do this while his husky and turned on, relaxed voice still flitted through his sex drugged mind so early in the morning. He almost shot off in the showers twice, before he forced himself to actually wash and get out and dress, hiding his erection behind his long jacket before he mentally prepared himself to step into their lounge area with the rest of his team.

Luckily, barely anyone looked up at him, as they were all tucking into food from takeout containers with unfamiliar writing along the front. Only Reinhardt looked up enough to tell him they'd brought him food as well and it was waiting on the counter for him, beside his mail stack. He grabbed it and stood by himself beside the window, back to the rest of the room, and waited, not looking at his untouched stacked of packages and letters. Just waited.

Again.

In retrospect, he should have known Gabriel would probably be late. As the most important person in their organization, of course he'd be busy and popular, and it'd be hard for him to get away from the meetings and the generals, even if he wanted to. He understood that on a technical level, but on an emotional level, he wanted to find Gabriel and punch him in the jaw for leaving him hard, wet and miserable for an entire half hour.

Then, maybe, just maybe, he could take out his anger on the generals, too. The fault lay on their shoulders anyway. Right?

"Jack?"

Ana's voice jerked him from his reverie, suddenly right at his ear. He nearly knocked his take out container off the counter top, but he grabbed it at the last second, and glanced down at her, where she was staring up at him, mug of steaming tea in her hand. "Yes?"

"You okay? You have a thousand yard stare and I haven't seen you move from this exact spot in ten minutes," she replied. "What's wrong?"

"Couldn't sleep last night," he whispered, and while that wasn't technically a lie... "Long night in a new place, I guess."

Slyly, Ana leaned a little closer. "You worried about Gabe, too?"

The question shot through him harder than any bullet from any enemy. "W-what?" he sputtered. "Why would I be worried about him?"

Ana's brow raised, her mouth lifting in tandem amusement. "Because he's our commander and your best friend?" She shrugged a shoulder as she took a sip of her tea, shaking her head at his apparent ignorance - he didn't blame her, he was the biggest dunce in Overwatch. "You're just always with him, for as long as I've known both of you. I've never seen you two separately, so I was just curious as to how you felt."

Jack wiped his sweating palms on his uniform pants. Talking about Gabriel while he was hard and aching and could still feel the cold lube along his entrance was probably not the best idea; he'd end up crying before the conversation was over, he just knew it. "I see," he choked out. "Well, I just think the commander should have a day off. He works harder than anyone else."

"Hmm," Ana hummed. "I agree with you. Gabe is wonderful, isn't he?"

His shoulders relaxed at the familiar, safe territory. "Yes," he whispered. "Though he's late. He told me he'd be back by seven today."

"Is that so? Did you two talk last night?" She slapped her hand on his shoulder and then took a long, relaxed sip from her mug, a huge smile across her face.

She was quite a weird woman.

And Jack didn't know how to shut up, apparently.

The double doors to the common room exploded open, smacking loudly against the walls in a crash that nearly made Jack spill his coffee. Liao came rushing inside, arms above his head.

"The commander is back!" he cried.

"Oh, would you look at that! Speak of thee and thou shalt appear." Ana waved her hand quickly, laughing as she walked away. "Good morning, Commander Reyes!"

Jack glanced up from the coffee station, heart thundering behind his chest.

Gabriel came strutting into the room from the large double doors, wearing his long, black commander trench coat, decorated with medals and pins of honor. Jack's own jacket, a deep blue, had similar medals, but he was never as great as their commander. It warmed him from head to toe just looking at him, knowing no one in their team knew their leader the way he did. They'd only been apart for a fortnight, but he felt like he'd forgotten just how handsome his lover was.

Still riding the high from their shared orgasm via comm the night earlier, Jack thought he had never seen someone as beautiful as Gabriel - it almost looked like he was glowing, like an angel.

The years since their soldier enhancement had been nothing but _k i n d_ to Gabriel's appearance.

His undercut still made butterflies erupt in Jack's stomach, the line of his jaw strong and scarred and reeking of danger. Whilst he was strong and muscular when he first saw him shirtless, that paled in comparison to the man standing before them now. His muscles filled out his commander jacket like a dream. The confidence in which he stood and walked and held himself, though, was the hottest part of all.

Holy fuck.

"Twenty minutes!" he shouted. "Everyone, put on your street clothes, meet me out front in twenty minutes. Anyone not out there will be left behind!"

A pause coursed across the room like a ripple, everyone stilling, cups in hands, forks to mouths, brows furrowed as they stared at their beloved commander.

"What the fuck?" Sojourn finally piped up, dropping her fork loudly onto the table. "Gabriel, what are you-"

"Ah! Ah! No spoiling the fun." His hand raised quickly into the air, halting her. "Just know, it's a celebration. No more details."

The word celebration was apparently enough to get every single member of his strike team out of their chairs and rushing from the room before Jack could even put his coffee mug down. The doors swung closed behind them, banging against the frame as he listened to the sounds of their quick footsteps disappearing, yelling as they battled to get to the staircases before their other teammates.

Jack licked his lips, heart picking up quickly against his rib cage. It was stupid, he knew it to be so, they'd only been apart for two weeks. Why did he feel so nervous? "Hello, Gabriel." His voice sounded harsh in the silence echoing off the tiled floors and the now empty chairs. The bustling of the hallway still echoed into the corners of the room.

"Hello, Jack."

The absolute second the footsteps grew silent and they heard doors slamming overhead in the bedroom hall, hands were on him. Fast as lightning and hot as molten core, they skittered over his body, shoving his jacket down his arms, before moving up to grab a handful of hair. The rough fingers there yanked his head backwards, exposing his throat and making a sound hiss through his teeth.

Warm lips pressed against his jugular. He felt him breathing in through his nose, smelling him. "Mmm," he hummed, desperation lacing through his voice like a drug - a drug Jack was already addicted to, "remember when the general asked if we wanted to join Overwatch? Lead it?"

Though the question caught him off guard, Jack wrapped his arms around Gabriel's wide shoulders, letting himself be warmed by his presence, soaking it in for the first time in two weeks. And while it was out of the blue, how could he ever forget that? "Yes, of course." The highest ranking generals were so impressed by their inseparable teamwork on the battlefield, they asked if they wanted to be part of this group, asked Gabriel if he wanted to be the first Strike Commander.

Jack's excitement for them both had been so thorough, he'd called Gabriel _commander_ in bed until he held him down and fucked him with the strength and vigor of a leader, gripping his throat, cutting his air off, holding him down into submission. He'd never cum so hard in his life. Clearing his throat, he shifted, pants feeling a little tighter at the memory. "W-why?"

"I just like remembering sometimes." Gabriel's hands tightened on his hips, nuzzling his face closer into his throat.

Jack frowned. While Gabriel was always attentive for the sake of having sex, he hadn't just... held him before, without wandering hands or kisses. Their relationship had been built on fast, hurried fucks from adrenaline, from the thrill of being on the battlefield, elation from making it out of another dangerous situation alive and in tact and still able to see each other naked.

"Remember..." Gabriel's breath huffed hot against his jugular. "Remember when I told all those assholes I wouldn't do anything without you?"

"Yes, Gabe, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." He was lying. It hit him in the square of his chest, sinking low and hurting.

Stupid, he thought, and shook it off. "I know you're lying," he whispered.

"Whatever." The first kiss, wet, on his throat made his heart soar. 

"Fuck," he whispered. "Gabe, I just wanna know what's wrong-"

"Mmm, Jackie." His breath felt hot against his jugular. "Missed you while I was gone. Missed you so much, I almost quit being a commander just to see you again."

"Shut up," Jack laughed, "it was only two weeks."

"Two weeks in boring meetings without you." Gabriel pulled away, peering down at him with deep, beautiful eyes - two weeks certainly was a long time to be away from him. Instinctively, Jack leaned in, closer, smelling him, melting into his chest, pressing his hands against hard muscles. He wanted to soak him into every little bit of him, fill the holes he'd left while he was gone.

Fill the holes he hadn't realized existed until last night whilst trying to fall asleep alone for the first time in so many years.

Gabriel's strong hands slipped up, taking his face into them. "I realized I missed you so much last night," he whispered, "so all this party business is a ruse. I want to take you on a date, Jack."

Weakness filled his arms; he let them drop and dangle at his sides, heavy, weighted. "What?"

"I took Overwatch's aircraft to take you on a date, with the rest of our team." His breath puffed hot over Jack's cheeks, strong with the scent of coffee with too much sugar, his favorite. It warmed Jack's heart in a way it certainly shouldn't, because it wasn't his to feel so closely to; not yet. But maybe... just maybe...

"A date?" Jack echoed.

"A date."

And then words were lost as Gabriel dove into him, tilting his head and devouring his mouth in a heady, thick cloud of lust. His mouth tasted familiar now, like home, like places he'd never known, a place far from Indiana, where he belonged and could live forever in the warm embrace of someone who meant the entire world to him. He adored Gabriel Reyes.

He adored Gabriel Reyes.

The glowing adoration devoured him so deeply, he didn't realize Gabriel was moving again until he felt knuckles bumping against his crotch. He jolted, realizing Gabriel was fiddling with his own pants buckle, his breath coming in quick bursts across his jugular.

Well, well, well. Someone was just as needy as he felt.

Good.

The familiar clink of the metal had him revved up in an instant, heat building in his crotch like a hot iron, taking over his entire body in one heated rush until Jack let the strength drain from his veins and he heard his own voice in his head, _fuck it, I'll ask him later._

Gabriel manhandled him around and he was powerless to fight back. "Hands on the door, pretty boy."

He obeyed, pressing palms against the door and bending, canting his hips out. At long last. After thirty minutes of being hard, stretched, and ready to get fucked out of his mind, he was close, so close, to getting what he wanted.

His own uniform pants were shoved down in record timing, pooling at his ankles, and he felt large palms grab his ass, kneading and spreading. "Did you do what I told you?"

"Yea - _ah - ah_!" The breath knocked clean out of his lungs as Gabriel thrust fully inside him in one motion, to the hilt, filling him and stretching him until he thought he might black out or scream. His lover's hot cock felt gigantic, pressing against every single good spot inside him, places he couldn't reach, pressing against spots that made his vision white out.

And he'd been waiting for two weeks for this, aching for him, craving him in the way only Gabriel could fulfill him. Fucking himself on his own fingers hadn't been enough, not nearly, just made him want him more and more and more until it became akin to an obsession.

But, his own imagination couldn't even compare to the real thing.

The thick, heavy weight.

So deep, too deep, too big, so fucking g o o d.

Jack came.

Untouched.

From the first three seconds of Gabriel's dick inside him.

Hot spurts of cum landed pathetically on the tiled floor beneath them as he gasped and cried, tears stinging behind his eyes and his throat aching from the sheer power of it. The orgasm wracked through his body in waves that knocked valuable oxygen from his lungs and made his thighs tremble, the aftershocks strong - he could feel himself pulsating around the large cock still buried inside him.

Behind him, Gabriel paused. A warm flush covered every inch of his skin, embarrassed. "Did you... did you just cum?"

Weakly, he nodded.

"What the _fuck_," Gabriel growled. "You're so god damn hot, I'm not gonna last long. Can I keep going?"

"Yes."

A hand locked into the hair at the nape of his neck and pulled until it hurt, as Gabriel reared back and plummeted into him like a meteor hitting the Earth. His speed picked up with absolutely no waste of time, his brutal strength rendering Jack's entire body numb, his fingertips and dick and legs tingling with the unrelenting hard pace.

The entire room filled with the sounds of their harsh lovemaking, and Jack wondered if he was gasping for air as loudly as he thought he was. Sweat pricked across his forehead, and everything felt way too sensitive to be getting fucked like this, but he couldn't help but get lost in it, in the familiar feeling of Gabriel consuming him in a way solely belonging to his commander.

As if reading his mind, Gabriel snarled against the shell of his ear, "You still belong to me, right? Hearin' you say that last night turned me on. Couldn't stop thinking about you all night, all morning." He grunted, somehow quickening his already brutal pace. "Say it again. Say you're mine."

"Yours!" he cried. "I'm yours!"

_I wanna be yours forever. I want to belong to you completely. I don't know what that means or what we are or what you want, but-_

Gabriel yanked out and Jack whined pathetically at the loss. "On your knees, pretty boy."

Again, he obeyed without a second thought and dropped to his knees, still gasping pathetically from the exertion of his own orgasm, but when he peered back up at Gabriel, his commander, his lover, he felt his dick pulse through another small one, because oh, sweet mother of every God imaginable, he was not at all deserving of the heavenly scene above him.

This man looked beautiful.

His usually perfect hair had fallen messily over his forehead as he peered down at Jack, towering over him, lips parted on harsh breaths as he shoved the bottom of his skin tight shirt into his mouth, his commander jacket sinking lower off his shoulders and settling into the crook of his elbow, exposing all his muscle at once. Jack felt momentarily lightheaded at the sight of every rippling brawn in that rock hard body.

His abs, defined and strong with tension, his large biceps straining, nearly popping out of his tight black undershirt as a large, massive hand encircled Gabriel's dick, the knuckles sprinkled with scars, and began stroking the shaft rapidly in front of his face.

The other hand came to gently carress the side of Jack's face. Soft fingertips, gentle for several moments, until it moved up and those soft touches turned into a harsh grip in his hair again, holding him still so he was directly in front of that pulsating cock. Not that he would ever try to get away.

Not from Gabriel.

Never, ever.

Apparently, his partner was thinking the same thing, because he let out a harsh groan and bit out sharply, "Fuck, forgot how pretty your face is."

Jack hummed, bones lax. "Are you gonna cum on my pretty face, then?"

Gabriel's eyebrows raised and his mouth dropped open; Jack watched his hand stutter. "What the _fuck_," he swore. "Yeah, yeah, I wanna cum on that pretty fucking face. Gonna mark you - fuck, open your mouth."

Obeying, he dropped his mouth open, parted his lips, slipped his tongue out, and peered up at Gabriel through thick, blonde lashes.

Only three more strokes came before Jack felt sweltering, white hot stripes shoot across his lips and his cheeks, the familiar taste falling along his tongue in an intoxicating way. 

Gabriel collapsed to his knees in front of him, hand falling from his hair, breathing so hard, Jack could hear every intake. "Holy shit, Jack. I missed you."

His guard was down. Post orgasm, covered in his lover's seed, he smiled and said, "I missed you, too, Gabe."

Dazed eyes met his, and he gave a short laugh. "You're a wreck. I'm sorry."

Jack shrugged a shoulder, his tongue darting out and gathering what wetness he could reach along his chin, reveling in the taste. "Don't be sorry, I like it."

"Uh-" Gabriel looked away, closing his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. "You know what, get cleaned up and take off that uniform, before I cancel the date and keep you here in bed."

As enticing as that sounded, Jack quickly wiped his face off with the hem of his uniform shirt and darted quickly out of the common room.

**February 17th 2050**

**8:26 PM**

The aircraft was aflutter with excitement and fawning over their commander, begging him for more answers about what they were doing, where they were going, why they needed to be in street clothes. Gabriel sat at the head of the craft, one leg stretched out in front of him as he leaned lazily into one corner, his right hand wrapped around a bar above his head.

After their little moment, Jack had dressed while filling warm and full, fulfilled, marked, like he belonged to Gabriel. He felt like a school boy who'd touched his crush's hand for the first time, giddy and excited to just be around this person, with whom he'd been sleeping with for years already! It was ridiculous, and he knew that; he muttered it to himself a dozen times as he slipped on a pair of jeans, his military boots, and a navy blue flannel shirt, which he rolled the sleeves up to his elbows.

Even looking at himself in the mirror made him roll his eyes. The blush from earlier had yet to leave his cheeks or the tips of his ears, a permanent reminder of how childish he was acting. 

What had Liao said yesterday?

Love was gross?

Jack was starting to agree.

But then he saw Gabriel standing in his full glory outside his Strike Commander uniform, and those downtrodden thoughts were transformed into a blooming, all encompassing swell of white hot happiness and overwhelming emotion, it struck into him like a bullet to the chest, knocking him clean of oxygen and reasonable thought. He'd forgotten how to speak coherent words or structured thoughts as they slipped into the plane as one big group and Jack took on the aircraft's opposite side so he could watch Gabriel in all his glory during the entire trip.

Tight black jeans, ripped at the knees. Dark combat boots that could have been the ones he wore during their first meeting. A white t-shirt, the sleeves cuffed and rolled on his massive biceps, the color so stark and clean against his flawless dark skin. A black leather bracelet wrapped around on wrist. He'd even styled his hair, rather than hide it beneath a hood or a beanie during battles.

In fact, the sides appeared to be freshly shaved into another fade, so the longer mane on top appeared more quaffed and perfect as it was messily tossed to the left.

His heart tried pathetically to start beating again, but only succeeded in skipping and knocking the wind out of him for the hundredth time. All the while, he could not tear his eyes from his commander... 

"So," Gabriel said once everyone was settled, his voice soothing, shoulders slouched, relaxed. "How's my team been doing without me?"

"Good!" Liao cried, looking very relaxed in a black Henley shirt and black cargo jeans. "Though Torbjorn has already had seven mugs of coffee today, we're a little concerned about him."

"I was up all night talking to my wife," he grumbled. "She's been throwing up all night, I didn't wanna leave her alone."

"Oh, I see." Gabriel laughed, pausing at the head of the table. "Only gets worse from there. Wait till the baby is born."

"Don't you got a kid?" Sojourn piped up, her tank top and skinny jeans showing off her muscular, well-trained body.

"Technically. The mother doesn't really want me to see her, only got to be around her for three months before I left for duty. Haven't been home since." He shrugged. "So I know at least you will be up for the next three months, but I'll keep you off active duty on the days you need sleep."

That damn near made Jack's heart leap into his throat.

The exterior of their commander was a gruff man with anger running through his veins, the type of man who stood toe to toe with military officials and generals, and yelled at them when he didn't like what they had to say. His reputation had spread through every facility and government organization until people were terrified of him.

No one wanted to be on his bad side, because he was the hero who led their team and ended the Omnic Crisis singlehandedly, with Jack at his side. Everyone considered him to be the moral fabric of the team, but Jack disagreed every time it came up.

There were those moments when Gabriel surprised everyone and came out as the kindest person in existence... He was far kinder than anyone else.

"Thanks, Commander."

"So, did you really come back just to take us to a party?" Reinhardt slung his arm around Ana, pulling her closer across the bench they shared. Reinhardt looked much different in his own street clothes consisting of a tight t-shirt that did nothing to hide his absolute gigantic arms, and Ana looked ethereal and beautiful, hair hanging long over her shoulders, a stark contrast against a white shawl decorated with golden flowers, strappy flats covered in glitter, black skirt hitting just above her knees. "I find that hard to believe."

Gabriel's sharp gaze darted across the aisle and right at him.

_I want to take you on a date._

He watched with sweating palms as Gabriel's tongue slipped across his bottom lip; Jack wanted to lean over and taste it. "Yeah," he answered. "I thought my team needed a break after all you've done. You fucking saved the world. The least the military assholes can do is give you a day off."

Liao and Sojourn shouted their agreement.

"None more than your captain over there, though." Gabriel nodded his head towards Jack. "Think he deserves all this the most."

Could he be more obvious?

After that, the world blurred into a technicolor of happy conversation and catching up. Questions upon questions for Gabriel, asking what he'd been up to, what were the meetings about, what were their next moves as Overwatch? Gabriel gave brief, professional answers, before turning the conversations to other things. How did they like the new HQ? How did they like their bedrooms, was it nice sleeping in a real bed?

Soft, affectionate questions.

Jack let himself relax and listen, falling into an easy daze.

The next hour rushed by in easy camaraderie. Eventually, the aircraft came to an easy and calm stop, and Gabriel was the first one on his feet, rushing to the door. Jack was quick to try and join him, rushing ahead of everyone else to come and stand beside his commander, while the others gathered beside them. He didn't miss the small quirk of lips on Gabriel's face as he turned and grabbed the handle.

"Everybody ready?"

_Yes!_ came the urgent reply.

The door flung open, revealing a sea of rooftops and a night sky blending into the horizon, stars twinkling overhead. At first, he had no idea where they were, what they were doing, or what was going on-

Until the sound of distant music met his ears. Cheering, shouts. Elation and celebrations. Something that sounded like large drums beat loudly off to the right of them.

Gabriel gestured his arms out over the rooftops, leaning out the front door. "Welcome... to the Rio Carnival!" 

Everyone else caught up to his words faster than Jack, and they exploded out the front door of the aircraft, pushing passed him, to see if Gabriel was telling the truth. Gabriel, himself, hopped down from the door and joined them with long, easy strides, until Jack stood alone in the entryway, watching them, and watching the horizon.

The Carnival Festival in Rio de Janeiro had never been something Jack knew much about. The pictures were beautiful, yes, of course, and he had admired them many times in his school and teenage years when they popped up on his internet searches or social media accounts, but he never dreamed of attending a festival of the likes. It never seemed as though he'd enjoy being part of it, because he happened to be, frankly, boring most of the time.

He paused for a few moments, before stepping down to the rooftop and heading to the corner opposite everyone else, peering over to see what they were in awe of. As soon as his gaze took in the scenery around and below them, he understood completely.

This particular, wide rooftop sat high above everything and he could see all of Rio de Janeiro laid out on each side of them.

Directly below them, string lights dangled from seemingly every corner of each street. Crowds of people, some dressed in normal clothes, others in costumes, were dancing through the streets, colorful drinks in hand. Everything was lit up in a golden glow, a haze of soft parties and happy locals. Vendors were placed along every street, it looked like, mini parades ran along side roads in this smaller part of town.

He allowed his gaze to shift off to the rest of the city around them. To the right and a bit in the distance sat a huge concrete stadium lining an entire street lit up so brightly, it scarcely looked like nighttime in that area, with huge beams of lights throwing up different colors. That's where the sound of drums came from, as well. Along the street just outside the stadium, he could see large, strange things gliding along in a straight line. A golden dragon, huge banners and flying flags, tall, intricately sculpted white horses. Though he could only vaguely see bits and pieces of what he assumed were floats, they looked beautiful and awe-inspiring. He remembered reading about the parade of samba schools at Rio before, but he never thought it would be so beautiful.

A carnival of rides sat off in the distance to the left of the stadium, he could see the top of the ferris wheel glittering in an aray of colors against the night sky backdrop, bright rays of light from large flood lamps flashing rainbow. Buildings all around them had windows lit up with golden, warm light, tall on one end of town, more modern, while the other side, their location, had old architecture and intricate iron street lamps.

His gaze wandered out to the sea of people below them, and the beginnings of what looked like a street wide party of some sort.

It looked _magical_.

Watching strangers holding hands and running through the streets together. Some were dancing together in front of romantic streetlamps in time to the various musics playing from every which way. The sight made him wonder how many out there were on dates with significant others, sharing their first kisses, getting proposals. Having one night stands, or meeting someone they'd be with for the rest of their lives. This event felt full of romance, old world amongst the architecture below them.

A small smile curved his lips. Of course Gabriel would bring him to this for their first date, whether he actually meant it as a date or not. It felt so akin to the young, dangerous, cocky man he met at the soldier enhancement program as naive kids, and it warmed him inside out like lighting a dozen, home scented candles. 

"Hey, do you like it?" A large hand came up to cup his lower back, a chin fell to his shoulder.

Jack hadn't heard him approach, but the feeling of him so close thrilled him. He leaned his own temple against the side of Gabriel's head. "I don't know," he teased. "You better take me down there and start celebrating so I can see."

The body against him leaped to attention, pushing away from him at record timing, Jack almost felt the wind off his movements. "Okay! Everyone, follow me! Our staircase down is beside Jack and me." Gabriel grabbed his hand and started pulling him toward the rooftop door nearby, everyone else following in quick step behind them as a solid body.

He led them down the staircase, through an unfamiliar empty building, and out into the fluttering celebrations of the street level. There, Jack truly experienced astonishment. While he thought things were lovely from above, being in the thick of it brought a different sort of elation and excitement and intrigue. An entirely alien world compared to Indiana, the battlefield, Overwatch.

When was the last time he'd relaxed and enjoyed himself, outside of sex?

Years.

Gabriel held his hand through it, leading them in a determined beeline across the street and towards what appeared to be an open air bar of some sort. The place had a big, wooden bar with a small roof at the very back, and all around it, surrounded by an iron fence, many small wooden tables and iron chairs, string lights stretched in every which way overhead of them, candles lit in sconces along the front of the bar's wooden face. It looked much more modern and minimalist than the rest of the street, but very nice.

They crowded into the fence's area and Gabriel released Jack's hand and instead asked Reinhardt to follow him to the bar while the rest of them stood quietly on the outskirts. When he returned, he and Reinhardt handed out beer bottles to each and every one of them, some familiar brand with Portuguese writing along the front and a yellow label.

"I know it's not our favorite drinks, but this is what the bartender recommended." Gabriel's hand brushed against Jack's as he handed him his bottle. "Trying to get into the carnival mood, you know."

Jack hummed, popping open his bottle. "Anything you give me is fine."

His gaze caught the way he swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing with effort.

While Reinhardt flung his beer into the air and cried, "To Overwatch!"

Each beer joined him, clinking glass necks together, a chorus of _to Overwatch!_, zapping the electricity between them to a halt, then everyone began chugging around him. So Jack brought the bottle to his lips and downed almost the entire bottle. The taste hit his taste buds in a jarring way. Notes of lemon and spices, sweetness and darkness. After the initial shock, he tossed back the rest until the bottle was completely empty.

This particular drinking excursion went on for three more beers and several more bouts of boisterous laughter, before Gabriel grabbed him and headed back out onto the streets again, guiding them, finally, through the celebrations.

The atmosphere of the street events felt more akin to a date to Jack, and he let himself soak in it. Food vendors set up along the streets, or warm restaurants had their doors flung open, pretty girls calling out in their native language. An insane series of smells floated through the air, from sweet to savory, foods he didn't recognize. Gabriel kept leaning close as they walked and whispering what they were saying directly into his ear, making him shiver. His large hand had placed itself on his lower back again, guiding him through the crowd.

His breath felt hot on the shell of his ear.

"Drinks, hand pastels, popcorn, truffles."

"That one just called me handsome, I think."

Jack huffed a laugh, but had no way of arguing with this proclamation - of course, he didn't know a lick of Portuguese. "You know, I had no idea you spoke Portuguese," he said, tilting his head in Gabriel's direction.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, pretty boy." Fingertips rubbed a quick, firm circle into his lower back. Fire shot down his spine.

"Oh, that one is yelling about churros." Gabriel pointed to a little out of the way street vendor, near a bustling amount of people who were dancing around with a large group of costumed women. "Jackie, churros! Remember those days?"

As if he could forget the early days of Overwatch, when it was just him, Gabriel, and Ana fending for themselves in unfamiliar places. They'd settled in one particular place near the border for a long time during their first few missions, where they found a little restaurant that stayed open all night and sold churros in adorable little paper cups with various dipping sauces. Jack remembered the nights they celebrated their small victories together, just the three of them, shoulders bumping, laughing, talking about their lives.

They were fond, happy memories.

Beautiful.

Wonderful.

He almost missed them.

But things were even better now.

Jack glanced at Gabriel, who was turning to shout about churros to Ana, his face lit up like the sun. Maybe it was the three foreign beers talking, but he believed things were so much better now. More amazing than they had ever been.

It was probably the beer.

Ana came rushing forth from the back of the group, tossing her arms around each of their shoulders. "Can we get churros, Gabe?" Her eyes were sparkling. "It'd be like old times! I'm so excited!"

Affection, soft and gentle, crossed Gabriel's face. Jack could scarcely look away from it, because he loved the way Gabriel loved others. "Course we can, Ana."

The atmosphere around that particular food vendor held an aura all its own. An exciting one that matched Jack's pounding heart. People were still dancing with the costumed women, couples taking turns and changing partners, the women hyping up the crowd, the music high tempo and party worthy.

Gabriel handed out churros to every single person again, before pulling Ana and himself close to him, away from the others and beside the dancing crowd. Jack could tell he wanted to recreate the ambiance of their previous dates together, and he appreciated it to the bottom of his soul.

Ana took the first bite of her food with a huge smile on her face. "Thank you, Gabriel," she said, mouth still full. "I'm so happy today."

"No problem, Ana." Gabriel devoured his own churro in several gigantic bites, before speaking again, tossing his garbage in the trash beside them. "I just wanted to spend time with you two before tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?" Jack asked. He furrowed his brow. Nothing, that he could remember, at least. Unless the generals told Gabriel something no one else knew yet.

"We have a meeting with the generals," came the echo of his own thoughts. "And I dread it."

"Why?" Ana asked around further bites of her favorite dessert.

Jack busied himself eating as well, content to just listen to them.

"I don't know, I'm just... not looking forward to it, is all."

_Weird._ That was pretty weird. Typically, Gabriel looked forward to standing toe to toe with the generals, arguing and challenging them, knowing full well they could do nothing but listen to the man who saved the world. Jack chuckled, popping the last bite of his churro into his mouth and tossing the trash away. He always loved watching him deal with the military brass, as terrible as that made him sound.

"Don't let it worry you, Commander." Ana placed her hand on Gabriel's shoulder, shaking him. "You should join in on the dance over there, make yourself feel better! Who knows when we'll be able to celebrate again!"

Gabriel huffed. "Yeah, I'm not much of a dancer. You?"

"Goodness, I would love to dance," Ana joyously laughed, eyes flitting toward the others dancing around her. 

"Oh?" Gabriel hummed loudly. "Has no one ever danced with you, Ana?"

"Not like this, no." Her eyes glittered beneath the street lamps and the string lights, in the rainbow array of colors coming from the hotels and the restaurants and the parties surrounding them on all sides. "Sam isn't much for dancing."

"Okay." Suddenly, he snatched the last few bites of churro from her hand and threw it away, before grabbing her arm and hauling her into the crowd nearby, leaving Jack to gawk after them in surprise.

Because Gabriel had just said he wasn't much for dancing.

But the way he immediately put his arm around Ana's waist and waltzed her in time to the music said a thousand things otherwise. Jack felt... in awe. Mesmerized by the sight before him. He could hardly believe his eyes.

Gabriel twirled Ana around in time to the boisterous music, the lights warming him in a golden glow. An angel. His smile was bright and happy and large, his movements smooth, bouncing, practiced. Happier than he had ever seen him. Ana, too, was laughing happily, allowing herself to be danced and twirled around by their commander, in front of this sea of people and their own team, wherever they'd ended up.

The scene took his breath away.

The beauty of it.

For years to come, until the moment he found himself dying in the desert, this particular juncture replayed in his brain as the most pivotal seconds of his entire life. The death and destruction to come later meant nothing. The heartbreak and betrayal paled in comparison.

Because, something happened in Rio de Janeiro that night.

Beneath the city lights, amidst the crowds and the parades, and the celebrations. Among his team screaming and partying in victory now gathering around and joining in on the dance, each grabbing their own partner to dance and twirl with romantically.

Jack Morrison fell in love.

When it started, he wasn't sure. Maybe on the battlefield. Maybe the first day they met. Their time together blurred into one glorious dream of time, but in that moment, he knew he was madly, irrevocably, uncontrollably in love with Gabriel Reyes.

He probably had been the entire time.

He wanted to run to Liao and Ana, screaming about this. He knew his answer now.

Yes, he did have someone he loved.

Their commander.

The world spun around him, the ground felt as though it fell out from underneath him.

"Gimme those." Ana snatched all the containers of food from his hands before he could stop her, and unceremoniously dumped them in the trashcan nearby. He opened his mouth to argue, but she was already grabbing him by the collar and hauling him out towards the festivities. "Now, you two dance!"

Gabriel tilted his head, hair falling over his forehead in that endearing way that took his breath away. Half his mouth quirked into a familiar, crooked smile, his chest rising and falling with deep, winded breaths from spinning Ana elegantly.

He knew.

_He knew._

His fear about telling Gabriel seemed so stupid in light of these feelings. After all, he was telling his best friend, the person he trusted most in the world, the truth about his feelings. And Gabriel had to feel the same way, he thought, dazedly staring at this handsome man as he walked closer on legs that felt like they were floating. Why else would he have brought him on a date?

Why would he do any of this extravagant stuff for him? Not anyone else, but only for him?

No one in his entire life had done something so sweet for him, gone to so much trouble.

No one else in his entire life had protected him the way Gabriel had on the battlefield multiple times.

No one else had ever spoken as sweetly to him as this man did.

Gabriel deserved to know how he felt.

As he approached, Gabriel smiled, still breathing hard from dancing so hard with Ana. "What, you wanna dance, too, pretty boy? C'mere, then." He outstretched his arm, beckoning him into his embrace to be twirled and danced.

But Jack had other plans.

Bigger plans.

Jack slid his arms around Gabriel's neck and planted a kiss right on his lips. In front of everyone. In front of their team. In front of 250 strangers.

He kissed him.

For the first few seconds, Gabriel sat stiffly, not kissing back, but also not fighting and pulling away. 

Then, his arm slipped around his waist and pulled Jack in, his chest flat against Gabriel's own. His skin felt sticky hot, humid, palms wet and weak as he pressed them against his neck.

And Gabriel kissed him back.

Slow, soft. Romantic. A gentle slip of lip. Until his other hand came up to nestle in the nape of his neck, deepening it. Gabriel's tongue shyly trailed along his bottom lip, like clumsy, shy boys kissing for the first time. Young and innocent crushes unsure how to hold themselves, where to kiss and touch.

Butterflies - honest to God butterflies - flew rapidly inside his core.

It felt like a first kiss all over again, but not one built on lust. One built on something else Jack didn't understand - starting from square one when he knew what his dick looked like by heart. The irony of it made him huff a laugh against the tongue hesitantly searching the corners of his mouth and tasting him so thoroughly, he wanted to pass out.

Gabriel broke away first.

The rest of the world's noise came rushing back in. The music and yelling. People were cheering.

Better yet, his teammates were cheering - he recognized their voices, and he glanced over his shoulder to find them gathered in a semicircle around them. Tears streamed down Ana's face, hands on her mouth. Reinhardt and Torbjorn looked like they were watching their kids grow up, while Liao and Sojourn had their arms around each other as they watched, the latter pressing her wedding band against her cheek, while the former looked proud and nauseous at the same time.

He did say love was gross.

Jack didn't agree anymore.

Nothing felt better than love.

"Huh," Gabriel whispered, peering down at him through thick lashes and slow, loving blinks. It reminded Jack of a cat looking at its owner. "Guess you liked the date, Jack."

"I loved it." He meant it. 

Gabriel slipped his arm around his waist and slowly swayed him, much easier and softer than the exciting movement he made with Ana. Pulling him close, flush against his chest, their waists pressed together. Jack felt the hard line of his commander's erection pressing through his jeans, but he didn't mention it, because in that moment, their relationship wasn't about sex.

Something more had blossomed in the last ten years, neither of them had been aware of. Between the fast hands, wet lips, sullied clothes, and gasped breaths, something foreign managed to grow. It pulled an ache from his heart, clenching, hurting in a good way.

All his worries disappeared like smoke on the wind that night. He wasn't afraid to tell Gabriel how he felt, and he would soon, without anxiety over the answer. When they got the chance, when the time felt right, Jack would tell him he was in love with him.

They left Rio de Janeiro when everyone was exhausted and had way too many extra beers in celebration, Jack falling asleep on Gabriel's shoulder for the hour ride. Back at the headquarters, Gabriel ignored his own bedroom and curled up with Jack in his bed.

The shadows in the corners weren't so lonely anymore, with Gabriel's breath against the nape of his neck as he slowly fucked into him whilst they spooned, pressing soft kisses against his neck. Unrushed. Relaxed. He kissed the absolute breath from his lungs when they stumbled through lazy, twin orgasms together, and suddenly, oh so suddenly, Jack felt like he'd found a home.

They fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

****

**February 18th 2050**

  


**8:15 AM**

When sunlight hit Jack's face and jolted him upright in bed, he had two very lucid thoughts. 

One, the spot behind him now sat empty, Gabriel gone. 

Two, he was late for their meeting with the generals. Gabriel told them all to be awake and in the meeting room by 8:30 AM, waiting for the brass to arrive and brief them. 

He swore at the top of his lungs and shoved himself into his uniform at record time, shoving his hands through his messy hair as he launched out the bedroom door and took the stairs two at a time at risk of tripping and breaking his neck. He'd rather do the latter than ever be tardy for an official Overwatch meeting; that was a stain upon his reputation as Overwatch captain that he never wanted to deal with. 

Luckily, the clock read 8:19 when he burst through the double doors of the room that read **DEBRIEFING**. Around a long, rectangular table, he found his team sitting and talking in hushed tones. Reinhardt and Ana beside each other, Liao with his head resting atop the table, obviously hung over, as he'd drank the most the night before. Sojourn had a mug of coffee in her head, and Torbjorn quietly sat with his arms crossed and eyes closed, waiting. 

No Gabriel in sight. 

"Mornin', Jack," Reinhardt greeted, his voice much quieter than its typical boisterous tenor. 

He bit back a laugh as he placed himself, breathless, in the chair across from Ana, each chair beside him empty. "Where's Gabe?" 

"I saw him about half an hour ago, checking his stack of mail in the common room," Sojourn answered. "He was real quiet, so I think he's hung over like Liao here." 

"Mmm, yeah, he had as many beers as me," Liao grumbled, muffled by the tabletop pressed against his mouth. 

"That's what you fuckin' get for drinking seven Portuguese beers in two hours," Sojourn hissed. "You better sober up before the generals get in here, you absolute dumba-" 

The debriefing room doors audibly opened behind them. In filed three of the highest ranked military officials, the ones in charge of overseeing Overwatch operations, with Gabriel behind them, his shoulders hunched forward, head down, not looking at anyone. His body language immediately struck Jack as bizarre, completely uncharacteristic of his lover. 

His thoughts shot back to yesterday, when he was acting strangely. The dark circles and the pale skin, he hadn't gotten the chance to ask what was wrong and receive an actual answer. 

Was he really sick? Was he just hungover like Sojourn implied? 

He almost hoped for the latter. 

Pulling his bottom lip between his teeth, he shuffled around and tried to catch Gabriel's gaze as the generals took a seat at the head of the table, and Gabriel sat two chairs away from Jack. Head down, arms folded across his midsection, one leg stretched out far beneath the table. In the years they'd been sleeping together, Jack accumulated a large file of body language queues - this one didn't say he was sick, but instead, standoffish, angered. 

It made no sense. 

Gabriel did not meet his gaze. 

"Afternoon, Overwatch!" Their head general, a gruff man everyone called Stark, greeted, drawing attention to him. 

"Afternoon," everyone echoed. 

The other two officials sat on either side of their boss, silent, holding files and folders of some sort. 

Something in his chest tightened and held, but he didn't want to think about that. Not until he knew what was going on. 

"As you all know, you, Overwatch, has ended the Omnic Crisis and all of us, and the entire country, am forever grateful for your contribution to this." Stark paused, letting his words sink in. "You men and women are heroes." 

Jack swallowed hard. 

He felt nothing but anxiety in the wake of the words he wanted to hear since he was a child. 

"Overwatch is now very much in the light of the country. Everyone is aware of your existence and will be watching you as heroes now." The general laid both hands upon the table and leaned over it. "With that being said, we've decided we have to make a few changes to the team for future missions." 

An eerie feeling crept up the back of Jack's neck. His gaze darted quickly over to Gabriel, but he was watching the generals with a set jaw, arms crossed over his chest. Slowly, he looked back to the head of the table. "What kind of changes?" he managed to choke out. 

The worst thing he could guess was giving Gabriel a promotion and forcing him to leave their team to do some bigger, greater thing. Overwatch wouldn't be where it was in the first place without him, and that particular thought made sense as to why Gabriel looked so angry. 

"Well..." The general drew in a deep, audible breath, grabbing a file from his neighboring official and flopping it open on the tabletop. Thick, black letters stood starkly against the white of the printer paper, but Jack daren't read the. "First, we are implementing a new subsection of the Overwatch team, for covert missions into worldly threats. It's called Operation Blackwatch." He slid the file further down the table with a slick _whoosh_; it landed perfectly amongst them. 

Jack saw the words now. 

**OPERATION BLACKWATCH**

Followed by words he didn't understand. 

**DEADLOCK GANG**

**VOLSKAYA INDUSTRIES**

**VENICE UNDERGROUND**

"The first mission of this team comes tomorrow. It's an extensive sting into several companies we've been keeping our eyes on-" 

"Tomorrow?" Sojourn interrupted, tone high pitched. "We just got back from our tour. Who will be going on this sting? Who's being put into Blackwatch?" 

The general nodded solemnly. "None of you will be on this team," he answered gently. 

Jack watched from the corner of his eye as various shoulders relaxed, tension draining out from them. He, however, could not relax. Couldn't breathe. The air crackled with electricity of unbidden proportions; he knew something was coming. His blood roared with it. 

"Except..." the general continued. Jack's entire body went numb. "Commander Reyes will be in charge of this team and will be accompanying the new recruits on missions." 

Upset rippled throughout the table, nonemoreso than Jack, who's entire world seemed to fall out from underneath him. He knew it. He knew they were giving Gabriel a promotion and taking him away. In the roaring blood in his ears, he could have sworn he heard his own heart break and shatter into a million pieces, clinking like glass to the tiled floor at his feet. 

"Wait, you can't take our commander for an extensive mission! Who will be here with Overwatch?" Ana demanded, usually quiet and tame and happy, but now, Jack saw the shaking of her hands and the hard line of her brow furrowed together. Anger coursed through her strong body in visible waves - he was happy someone else could yell in his place, because he thought he might throw up. 

"Actually, that is the second thing I wanted to speak with you about." The general rose to his full height again and gestured out his hand. "Morrison will be promoted to Overwatch's new Strike Commander." 

_"What!"_ Jack leaped out of his chair, letting it topple backwards behind him, forgotten. It crashed to the ground in a loud clatter, awkwardly filling the now silent room. But he didn't care. He couldn't care about anything right then, other than the words echoing in the cavern of his own black abyss. Not the entire room of searing hot eyes now boring holes into him. "Sir, you must be joking!" 

"I am not, Morrison," Stark said gently. 

"No! Wait! Gabe, you can't be okay-" 

Jack glanced back at his lover, sitting stiffly in his uniform, head lowered. The line of his shoulders was harsh beneath his heavy coat, his arms crossed over his chest tightly, one leg bouncing nervously against the floor. The air whooshed out of him like someone popping a balloon - he'd been sleeping with Gabriel long enough to know his mannerisms, when something wasn't right. And he could not believe his eyes. 

"No," he whispered, pushing away from the table and taking several steps backward. "Are you _serious_? You didn't think-" 

_You didn't think to share this with me? You didn't think I would want to know? We had sex and you didn't think to mention this beforehand?_ He couldn't say those words, though, not with these private - too private - emotions swirling inside him in a hurricane of black clouds. Something might slip in front of their superiors. He might fuck up and scream that he felt left out and lied to, when he trusted Gabriel the most out of everyone. 

Everyone might find out how horribly betrayed he felt. They'd fucked just hours before, curled into each other's arms, and Jack thought it had been something special, something close to his heart as they were reunited after being apart for two weeks - Jack had melted in his arms and told him everything about what happened during their separated time. 

He'd had the time of his life during their "date" last night. Everything had been honest and open, wonderful. 

Gabriel had a thousand attempts to tell him what was going on, warn him. 

But he didn't. 

And Jack's heart felt broken. 

No one could know that, though. Not here. Not now. 

"Reyes was actually the one who suggested you for the position," their superior piped up again. 

Anger flooded his vision, dashing the entire room and every face before him in vibrant slashes of blood red. He could not fucking believe it. This was all a nightmare. A dream. 

His eyes flitted across the faces of his team. Torbjorn was carefully eyeing Reinhardt, who just looked uncomfortable, as Soujorn held her fists on the table, and Liao kept his head down, not looking at anyone, staying out of the problems. Ana, though, was staring right at him, and then at Gabriel, her pretty features etched with worry and disdain for the situation. 

They'd all watched them kiss in Rio last night. 

They all knew why this was so fucked up. Humiliation lit up within him like a forest fire, smoking out all other emotions. 

Gabriel still did not look up at him. 

Something snapped inside him. He heard it, distantly, the sound akin to a rubber band breaking after being stretched to its limit. 

An eerie calm draped itself over his entire body, enough for his fists to unclench slowly. "Is that so?" he whispered, and three of the men nodded in agreement. Ah, so he had... 

Okay, then. 

"Sir, may I have a couple hours to figure out what I would like to do?" 

"Of course, of course. There is no hurry-" 

Before the military official could finish his sentence, Jack turned on his heel and escaped into the hallway. He didn't stop stomping away until he reached his room and slammed the door closed behind him. He didn't even answer when Ana came knocking, begging to see if he was alright. 

**February 18th 2050**

**9:02 PM**

An entire day passed of Jack brooding in his room. Emotions ricocheted through him at a breakneck speed, from anger that made him scream at the shadows of his room, sadness that made him wipe tears from his overheated cheeks, to embarrassment at the way Gabriel blindsided him in front of all their friends, after what happened between them last night.

Now, all the people he respected knew his lover went behind his back.

If he'd done it in the privacy of their own bedroom, Jack would have taken it in stride. Understood what he meant and respected Gabriel's decision, because he was the smartest man in every room he stepped into. He respected all his decisions, never doubted him.

However, he couldn't forgive it happening this way.

Eventually, that was what dragged him out of his own bedroom and forced him to knock on Gabriel's closed bedroom door. Liao, who had been meandering out in the hall, a handful of snacks in his arms, saw the situation and immediately darted back into his room, going as far as to audibly lock the door behind him. This fucking sucked. Absolute and thorough.

He could almost feel everyone whispering behind his back.

The bedroom door opened. Jack didn't look at his sweatpants or his t-shirt, just pushed him out of the way and shoved himself into his room, slamming the door closed behind him. Seeing him caused the ricocheting emotions to return, anger at the very forefront.

Anger and heartbreak.

"Whoa, what the fuck are you doing?" Gabriel snapped.

"We need to talk." Jack faced him, chest puffed out in feigned bravery.

He had no idea what he wanted to say, or really why he'd shown his face in the bedroom, but he only knew one steadfast thing: he needed to talk to Gabriel about this. After stewing for ten hours by himself, he needed to say something.

Gabriel let out what sounded like a growl and plopped down on the edge of his mattress. "What do we need to talk about?"

"Um, about the meeting?" Was he feigning ignorance just to annoy him? Because it worked like a charm. He could feel the need to raise his voice clawing at the back of his throat already.

"So?" Gabriel pressed his fists against his knees and looked up at him nonchalantly, a nerve working in his jaw.

"How could you not tell me?" Jack demanded. "You lied to me!"

"How the fuck did I lie to you?" Gabriel challenged.

"You didn't tell me about this," Jack pleaded. "You let me get humiliated in front of all our friends, after they saw me kiss you last night. We had sex together twice yesterday, yet you didn't feel the need to tell me during either time!" 

"Didn't know how to tell you." A shoulder lifted. As if this meant nothing to him. As if he could care less about this 

"Didn't know how to tell me," he echoed. "So you were fine with me getting blindsided by this? In front of our entire team?"

Low and dangerous, Gabriel whispered, "Oh ho, you wanna say shit about getting blindsided?" His gaze suddenly turned full of fire, gaze darkening.

"Uh, yes!" Jack snapped, unbothered by the mirrored anger. He felt vindicated in his ire and nothing would prove him otherwise, he refused to be frightened by the man whose dick he'd sucked. He found that to be a toxic mindset.

If he truly was in love with him, he felt like they should be able to talk about things that bothered them without a fight.

At least, he prayed they were both capable of those things.

Gabriel leaped off the bed, then, shoving his hand into the pocket of his sweatpants. "Really?"

"Yes, Gabe!"

"Then you wanna fuckin' tell me why we've been screwing for literal years and I didn't know you had a god damn boyfriend!"

Vertigo struck Jack as hard as a train. The entire room tilted around him.

Those were not the words he'd been expecting.

Gabriel tossed something crumpled at his feet. Slowly, he bent to pick it up - and immediately recognized Vincent's scrawled handwriting across the middle. This letter had been in his stack of mail earlier. 

Staring at the words, he remembered Sojourn's words in the debriefing room. _I saw him going through his mail stack in the common room._ Jack had left his own packages there, unable to bring himself to drag them to his bedroom and deal with them. That had been said before the bombshell about Strike Commander - his anger in the debriefing room had been about something else altogether. "You... you went through my mail?"

"Yeah, and good thing I did! I would have done something I regretted today."

"I haven't spoken to Vincent in _years_, since I've been with you. I was going to break up with him when we got back from-"

"I don't care! Jack, you fucking suck!" Gabriel reared back and shoved him. His strength, as always, was unamtched and Jack stumbled backwards and hit his back against the bedroom door.

Tears pricked at the corners of his vision, blurring the angry, large vision of his lover before him. He quickly swiped away the first tear that dare slipped down his cheek. 

"I asked to join Overwatch with you. I told you about my entire life, including my daughter! You didn't tell me _anything_!"

"Wait, Gabriel-" This wasn't how he wanted this to go.

Things were falling apart around him. His hands wanted to scramble for the pieces and shove them back together, but he thought they were too broken, the conversation too damaged.

"Want to know the worst part?" Gabriel interrupted, his voice sounded horrific. Desperate. "When those dumbasses came to me and asked me to head Blackwatch, they asked if I would have any problems with you becoming Strike Commander. You know what I said? That you deserved it, because you're _good_ and so much better than me!"

Tears were falling uncontrollably now, too hot, too many. He reached both his hands out in surrender, not caring about the trails of wetness along his cheeks. No, he just wanted to stop, pick up the pieces, backtrack. Things had taken such a violent turn so quickly.

He should have thrown the packages away.

"I'm sorry, Gabriel," Jack lamented. "I know I should have told you, but..."

But what?

But fucking what?

What could he possibly say to defend himself? In comparison to this particular sin, Gabriel's lack of honesty seemed minuscule and meaningless.

"I'm done," Gabriel whispered, shrugging. "I'm done. Get out of my room, Morrison."

No!

A cry split through his heart, panic rising and rising and rising, choking him. "Wait, Gabriel. Please, listen to me-"

Jack saw his arm pull back.

He didn't have the strength to dodge. And when Gabriel's fist collided with his jaw, the stinging, terrible, desperate pain that bloomed across his face was nothing compared to the pain in the cavern of his chest. 

He left Gabriel's room, and did not look back.

**February 17th 2050**

**10:15 PM**

He came clean to Vincent that same night, biting the bullet and video calling him at his last known online address - thankfully, he still picked up. Admitting to the farce he'd put up, how terrible of a person he now knew himself to be. He didn't deserve him or their friends or the care packages everyone kept sending to the headquarters. Whilst he held a candle for him for all these years, dutiful to the man on the active lines he'd loved since they were kids.

Vincent, ever graceful and far too kind, looking slightly older and wiser, just smiled into the computer screen and said, "I understand." He went on to say long distance relationships were something too difficult for some people, and they were fooling themselves if they thought they would be together forever, they'd been kids when they started dating. "I've been seeing another guy for two weeks," he finally said, quietly.

That brought a small amount of relief, but he knew it was out of selfish bullshit.

"So, tell me, Jack," Vincent said quietly, "are you okay?"

"What?"

"Are you okay? What happened?"

Jack sucked in a deep breath through his nose, trying so hard to just relax. Not breakdown. Not cry. "We - we broke up."

"Did you love him?"

A loaded question, no easy answers. Everyone kept asking him this question and he knew the answer, but he had yet to say it out loud. He thought of the pain in his chest now, a visceral, bloody, gorey emotion unlike anything he'd ever experienced. He already knew it woud grow into a wound unlikely to heal for the rest of his life.

Because he adored Gabriel.

He should have told him.

He never should have broken Gabriel's heart. 

The flood gates snapped wide open. Tears fell white hot again, streaking his cheeks, as he choked, "Yes. Yes, I'm in love with him."

Vincent's eyebrows spiked high. He realized too late he had never said that to Vincent before, that he was in love with him. Probably because he was certainly not in love with him. He had never been in love until now, when he saw Gabriel dancing with Ana.

"I'll always love you, Jack," Vincent said softly, after a long, awkward pause. "Everyone in Bloomington will always love you."

He huffed. "I'm sorry, Vincent."

"It's okay," Vincent replied. "And your secret is safe with me. I'll never tell a soul. Be safe out there. Save the world."

That was the last time he ever spoke to Vincent again, though he didn't know it at the time.

Jack fell into his bed, face down, and cried.

When Ana came around to ask if he wanted to see the Blackwatch team off the next day, he refused to answer the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!!!!! I'm really having a great time writing this, even if I called myself a hack fraud like seven times whilst writing this. Legit, this is not my best writing, but whatever, let's roll with it.
> 
> Come scream at me on Twitter: [HollyLeighannee](https://twitter.com/HollyyLeighanne)  
Or support me on Ko-Fi if you enjoy my works! <3[HollyLeighannee](https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y415Q6W)  



	4. Firestarter, Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sin #3: Falling in love with Gabriel Reyes... again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took several months to come out because I bought a house and then had to renovate said house, so my writing time was very much destroyed along with this. But, my house is finished now, and we are on quarantine, so I can get TO WRITING PORN AGAIN!!! This chapter is actually almost 100 pages long, and like, 80,000 words, so I had to chop it in half. This part has no sex, but the next part is basically exclusively sex, so hang in there for me, fellow thirsty bois. And please enjoy, because this part almost killed me. (:
> 
> P.S. This was written months before the announcement of Echo and Mina Liao, so I'm just going to pretend I can't read and keep Liao as a mowhawk hot boi for a little bit. Thank you for understanding.

__

_Over and over, over and over_

__

_You make me fall for you_

__

_Over and over, over and over_

__

_You don't even try_

__

_So many thoughts that I can't get out of my head_

__

_I try to live without you_

__

_Every time I do I feel dead_

__

_I know what's best for me, but I want you instead_

__

_I'll keep on wasting all my time_

**January 1st 2051**

**7 PM**

In his entire time on Earth, Jack Morrison had never experienced heartbreak.

He'd watched his old friends go through breakups and saw how they badly they handled it, the pain it apparently caused, but couldn't quite grasp how it felt to have someone he loved hurt him in that way, and certainly couldn't imagine allowing something as simple as a casual relationship derail his life and crush his soul into a million pieces. He thought he'd been in love with Vincent at the time of their dating, something he now knew to be untruthful, but if Vincent had kicked him to the curb as a teenager, Jack felt fairly sure it wouldn't have bothered him nearly as much as everyone else.

For a while, watching one of his friends crying in their typical ice cream shop weekend dates, sipping on a milkshake, he thought, _Am I broken?_ He remembered this vividly, even years later, because the answer hadn't come to him that day, or any other day, and he spent a long time wondering if he was truly broken and incapable of feeling sadness over losing people.

Of course, Gabriel Reyes remedied that in a flash of black smoke that ate up his entire world, forming a funnel cloud in his life and wiping out any good thing he'd once enjoyed. Their strange, fucked up relationship proved Jack felt pain and heartbreak just as much as the next person, because losing Gabriel Reyes, hearing him say he didn't want him anymore, hurt worse than injuries, ached worse than bullet wounds that still stung when he moved quickly - he thought, maybe, just maybe, it hurt worse than anything he'd experience for the rest of his life.

And he cursed himself everyday for allowing his soul to get so attached to someone.

In other words, Jack Morrison may not have been broken when he thought he was, but he certainly was a broken man now.

He didn't come out of his room for three days at first, gathering himself, trying to figure out what he could have done to fix it, if there were any other way things could've changed. Breaking Gabriel's heart, and his own in the process, was never in the agenda; he'd wanted to tell him how he felt, not fight with him. Not lose him! And also lose himself.

In his adult life, there had always been Gabriel. Throughout everything in the last few years, a strong, firm statue of bravery resided at his side, a pillar of hope and, dare he say it, love.

Without him, who _was_ Jack Morrison?

It took three days to come to the conclusion that he'd find out on his own. He'd start fresh, take baby steps, and grow into Strike Commander without his security blanket wrapped around him.

No one spoke about it when he decided to throw himself into his work without a single five minute break, but everyone knew - and his brand new Strike Team threw themselves into being the best they could be for him. They held him up and made him better, worked their asses off until they rose in the ranks with him. Ana became Captain Amari, second in command of Overwatch by Jack's own omission. Reinhardt became Lieutenant Wilhelm. Sojourn, a little later, became a co-captain, and Torbjorn threw himself into his new occupation as Chief Engineer of Overwatch, in charge of all weapons designs and front-lines weapons manager.

Eventually, their strength and resolve to be better became _his_ strength in return.

And Jack, slowly but surely, became a commander.

In his own right, in his own way, after watching his chosen family become better people, stronger, for him and everyone else, he felt himself grow. It took three months before he stopped second guessing every single move he made and stopped obsessing over whether or not the fight could've ended differently. It took five months before he truly called himself a commander for the first time.

For the first three months following Blackwatch's inauguration, though, he saw black shadows everywhere he looked. Shadows and dark clouds that looked like his ex-lover; during their first few missions with him as their new commander, in dark ruins of places Omnics destroyed, in familiar places they'd once saved, he saw the ghost of Gabriel lurking around corners, beckoning to him.

Especially in the latter cities they'd once rescued, he envisioned all the secret meetings they shared together. In motels, where they'd touched each other while covered in blood. In ruined streets when Gabriel encircled him with strong arms and kissed the breath out of him, making him forget he'd almost died five minutes earlier.

It haunted him for weeks and months, and he thought he may never recover fully, despite wanting to so desperately for his team. They were trying their hardest around him as he ignored the beautiful specter lurking at the corners of his vision.

Five months after his heartbreak, as he was given new cadets and new recruits whom immediately fell into loving the team and himself, the demons still followed him, but he could smile through it, push them back, shine lights on them - for his team. It took practice and vigilance, but day by day, he continued growing and getting better.

Seven months after Gabriel punched him in the face, Jack could stand in meetings with agencies and the generals whom made him a super soldier and talk about Blackwatch missions without his entire world blacking out around him. The first day he realized his growth, he cried alone in his bedroom, thinking he'd healed at least a small amount in the wake of his heartbreak. Ana realized what happened as well, being in the meeting with him, and showered him with affection and warm, homemade soup she prepared with Reinhardt, and repeatedly said she was proud of him.

Jack felt pride for himself, too.

Jack felt good for the first time in seven months.

Now, eleven months after Jack Morrison thought he'd never be the same man he once was, he knew who he was without Gabriel Reyes. He'd become a man and a commander in his own right, grown into his own personality and leadership until he truly recognized the person in the mirror each morning. The medals on his jacket no longer felt heavy and his shoulders could lift without the weight of his guilt and sadness, pitch black poltergeists had fled from their perch atop his neck.

Every morning, he woke up, made his team breakfast, and breathed easily. Happily.

That morning had been no different. He smiled at himself in the mirror, shouldered his commander jacket, made breakfast, and then settled in for his long day of paperwork and computer inputs; he frankly enjoyed the grunt work of being a commander, something he knew Gabriel had hated; it gave him quiet time to himself each day outside missions, planning out every single move his cadets and seasoned soldiers would make so they'd take the safest course and follow every single move he wanted them to make, so everyone would come home safe.

The easy acts soothed him for hours, until he sat back in his office chair, alone in Overwatch's command center, and saw the time beeping brightly along one of the monitors on the wall. Seven P.M. The sun probably had already begun to set and he hadn't eaten or had a single drink since breakfast - when Ana found out, she'd give him _that_ look. The one he imagined Fareeha saw quite a bit. A motherly look of disappointment that struck guilt and regret for all decisions right into his heart.

Yikes. He'd prefer not to feel that again.

Screeching his chair out, he padded quietly into the hallway from the command center.

The way the Overwatch headquarters laid out, the professional rooms, such as the command center and the meeting areas, sat on the basement level of the building. Right outside the command center lay a large staircase leading to the first floor, which held the showers, kitchens, common areas, and other personal places.

Which was why he found it very strange, as he reached the top of the staircase, he heard silence. Typically, there were at least several people happily laughing in the halls, shouting in the showers, televisions blaring in the common rooms, or bustling in the kitchen, slamming cabinets and plates and pots. Happy sounds always reverberated off the halls on this particular floor, his team ever rambunctious.

Now, he heard nothing but roaring silence.

The hallways sat empty.

The staircase ahead of him, leading to the bedrooms, showed closed bedroom doors and no one wandering around.

Brow furrowed, Jack stepped up the final stair and into the entry hallway. Glancing left, still walking forward, no one was in the common rooms, the kitchen sat silent, from what he could see.

Glancing right, out the double glass doors, though, he saw something very strange.

A huge group of people gathered outside on the front step of HQ.

Jack backtracked quickly, peering at the throng of bodies rushing around beyond the glass doors. The clock on the wall read 7 PM, on a Monday. The cadets were all in their barracks on the top floor after training for a full day, no one was currently out on missions and expected to be back - so he had no idea what the ruckus was about.

"What's going on out there?" Beside him, in a cloud of patchouli perfume, appeared a beautiful young woman, blonde hair trailing along her jawbone, pale skin looking stark against her street clothes - an oversized black sweater with rolled up sleeves and jeans covered in rips along the knees. Angela Ziegler was one of the newer Overwatch recruits, arriving four months prior as a field medic; she'd become fast friends with everyone, including Jack. 

Her warm personality, but no nonsense attitude, quickly won over every single person in the building.

And Jack adored her. "I have no idea," he admitted. "There's nothing I can think of."

"Should we find out?" Angela rocked back on the heels of her ankle boots, tilting her head.

"Mmm, I dunno," Jack muttered. He didn't really care what went on outside the HQ. No one looked to be screaming or running around, or bleeding all over the front lawn, so it probably wasn't that bad. "I'd rather just go eat."

"Oh, I was about to go out and get food!" Angela clapped her hands together. "Would you like to come with me, Commander?"

Warmth filled and filled him, until his cup runneth over. "I'd love to."

Angela stretched her elbow out, smiling brightly, something akin to the sun that warmed Jack all the way through. Of course, he couldn't deny her or anyone on his team something they wanted when they clearly brought such brightness to his life, so he slipped his arm into hers and she began leading the way.

It almost struck him as funny, walking this way towards the front door where everyone stood gathered. A tiny, sweet young girl holding the arm of a much larger, much gruffer man with haunts behind his eyes, leading him along like two school kids on a date.

When he'd pictured his life as a bright-eyed and hopeful kid recruiting to be a soldier, he never thought it would come to this. Loving this ragtag team of people who loved and respected him to the ends of the Earth, and whom he would die for. After the debacle with Gabriel, he didn't believe anyone would respect him ever again, seeing him in such a pathetic state, but it truly surprised him how much everyone fell easily into seeing him as a Commander.

The new recruits like Angela, of course, hadn't been around for that particular situation, but she'd been respecting him since the first day she stepped into his office in her white lab coat and began quipping hilariously at him. From that second, he knew she'd be the perfect part of his team.

_His team._

Everything felt like a dream, in those seconds, as Angela pushed open the double glass doors and allowed a rampant crescendo of sound to greet their ears. Chattering and the distant sound of a whirring aircraft, which Jack quickly attributed to the landed black aircraft to the left of the rumbling crowd.

It looked like no one had stepped out of it yet, the foremost door still closed. As far as Jack knew, they weren't expecting any of the generals or the like to be visiting, as they would have run it by him first before setting foot on his grounds 

"Who do you think that is?" Angela asked - he wasn't sure if she was asking himself or anyone else around them, but he shrugged his shoulders regardless. "Is it a general?"

"No, they usually tell me before they come to HQ," Jack answered, as Angela began pulling him sideways and away from the rest of the familiar faced crowd. 

"Hmm, have they ever _not_ told you?" She glanced up at him through thick eyelashes and unruly bangs. The setting sun made her look like a golden angel.

"If it was an emergency, like someone on a team had gotten badly hurt or worse." Of course, that was impossible considering his own Overwatch teams weren't out on any particular missions until tomorrow, when he would be sending out four different teams to different corners of the Earth.

The only team still out on patrol...

Was...

Blackwatch.

Suddenly, things went from bright and golden, to dark and cold. Viciously freezing cold, his layers of clothes were doing nothing to help the trembles now coursing through him.

Had something happened to Blackwatch?

Surely someone would have told him sooner if another commander had been injured, or... otherwise, right? Surely!

The generals knew how long he and Gabriel had been working together. Would they be so cruel as to wait and wait until they could fly to HQ to tell him what happened? Wouldn't they tell him via comms so he could immediately run to Gabriel's side?

The door of the aircraft ahead of them began opening with a mighty groan of electric whirring and yawning, pulling Jack from his living nightmare.

Jack stopped in his tracks at the edge of the crowd, his sudden stillness yanking Angela to a stop beside him.

"Jack? You okay?" She gave a tentative pull on his arm, but he refused to budge, the soles of his heavy boots glued to the ground beneath them.

"We should see who's in the aircraft." It didn't sound like his own voice. Sounded like a stranger standing miles away.

If she disagreed, she didn't say so and just stood at his side in silence, tilting her fluff of hair sideways as she glanced at the aircraft as well. His heart was now pounding desperately against his rib cage, fearful for what was about to step out of that metal door and into his line of sight, fearful of what might be said to him. Which was... unsettling, to say the least.

Since the day Gabriel left with Blackwatch, Jack had been telling himself he wasn't in love with him anymore - trying to separate himself from all of it - yet the first thought of something bad happening to him, the world around him crumbled and he felt like collapsing to his knees. Evidently, his hard work had been for naught.

_That doesn't mean you're still in love with him,_ a particularly angry voice that sounded suspiciously like Soujourn echoed in his head. _Just means you're a good commander and not an ice cold asshole._

_You loved him for your entire adult life, of course you'll be worried about him._ This one sounded like Ana, gentle and assuring.

The metal door clunked down to the ground with a heave. He saw movement at the entrance. He gulped, anxiety rushing through him.

The first look at Gabriel Reyes made his entire world explode around him.

A year. An entire year had passed, and yet looking at him made it feel like four minutes had passed, and his heart break was as fresh as ever, bleeding him out until he was left for dead on the floor. No one else in the room was even visible anymore, everything had gone dark except the small spotlight over the Blackwatch Commander.

The thought still made him ache in places not touched since bloodied times.

He'd forgotten how tall and foreboding. How strong and handsome.

He'd grown thick facial hair. His Blackwatch outfit was completely black, and he wore a hood over his hair, just like the first time he laid eyes on him. However, there were a few differences this time.

Differences that made Jack feel sick.

Gabriel had his strong arm tossed around the shoulder of their new recruit. He looked like a kid, but Jack recognized him from photos the generals showed him during debriefings of Blackwatch's success. The chestnut colored hair falling to his jawline, the youthful build, the cowboy hat, and the stark, black tattoo along his tanned and toned forearm.

Jesse McCree. Former Deadlock Co-founder.

Blackwatch had been on a six month long sting against them, infiltrating from the inside to take them down. The mission's success resulted in a small amount of destruction, chasing the gang out of their hideouts, and the arrest of this particular member. Given a choice between prison and becoming a member of Blackwatch, of course he'd chosen the tall, dark, and handsome commander with whom he'd spent hours in an interrogation room.

Jack would've chosen the same option.

"I - I'm not hungry anymore." Jack quickly detached himself from Angela and made a beeline for the front doors. He didn't stop running until he made it back to the command center, where he slammed the doors shut behind him. There was no one and nothing in this room, except his own paperwork and his laptop, still awaiting him across the way along one of the small counter tops. 

So, with tears burning unbidden and nausea swirling deep in his core, he placed himself in his previous chair, picked up his file, placed it on his knee, and began carefully writing again, not seeing the words, but willing for something to take his mind off the obvious problems over his head.

After a while, he became so ensconced in his work, he didn't hear the door open behind him, didn't even notice when Angela came closer to his position. Didn't notice until she spoke and filled the absolute silence.

"Don't you want to welcome them back?" Angela spread herself out in one of the chairs beside him, propping her feet up on the counter top.

"No," Jack answered. "Not really."

Angela paused, but Jack continued working on his files and pretended nothing was wrong. He had a lot of work to do, he didn't have time to be with everyone else. A thousand excuses popped up in his brain to combat whatever questions she would have, before she asked them.

He would fight it.

"Heart break sucks, doesn't it?"

His hand slipped from the page and ink wrote across the knee of his uniform in a clean line. A blurred gaze stared at the mark, at his now shaking fingers, as panic welled up in the back of his throat like a scream threatening to force its way out. None of the core team dare ask him about Gabriel. They hadn't mentioned him throughout their separated year, instead they became his pillars of hope, working hard in both their jobs and their friendships in an attempt to pull him from his dark period.

Angela, though, didn't know what happened. She was lucky enough to have joined Overwatch several months after the incident, when things were back to normal. She'd never met the Jack Morrison everyone else saw in the weeks following Gabriel's departure.

Shadows were suddenly very evident in each corner of the room around him. Slinking from private places, underneath familiar furniture, sneaking their way across the floor, closer to him. They crawled up the walls to hang above him like nooses, like dead bodies. Skeletons and demons he'd bitten down and silenced for as long as possible.

He heard them growling and scratching now, begging to be let in. Tapping on the windows, shaking his chair.

They wanted back in.

He'd shined light on them for so long, to keep them at bay, he didn't want to see them again.

"What do you mean, Angela?"

"Everyone else might be too naive to see it, but I noticed. You looked like you saw a ghost when he walked in. That could be because you hate each other, but from the way you flinched when I said heart break sucks says otherwise."

Jack closed his eyes, breathing in through his nose the way self help groups via online told him to. 

"And, after you left the room, Reyes visibly deflated. He looked the same way you did. The math was pretty easy for someone like me."

His eyes snapped back open. "He did?"

A sense of right passed over Angela's beautiful face. "Yes. He stopped talking and worried everyone."

Though the darkness still sneaked in on all his private places, he visibly relaxed. His papers fell in the floor at his feet, hands no longer strong enough to hold them down; his computer almost fell as well, but Angela grabbed it - and Jack collapsed his forehead to the cool tabletop.

Cool.

Cold.

Quiet.

"What happened?" Angela placed his computer carefully atop the table. "I know I'm new here, but-"

"I fucked up," he whispered. "A lot."

"Well, I'm here to listen if you need to talk about it."

Jack considered her thoughtfully, lips pressed together and brain going a mile a minute. It was hard to gather coherent words in the face of what just happened, but he managed to breathe in deeply through his nose and slowly, carefully, whispered the truth.

He spewed their break up story in an emotional rush, quickly prefacing it with the amount of time they had slept together and everything they had been through - to emphasize just how badly they'd both _fucked up._

When he finished, his throat felt tight enough to halt his oxygen supply, his heart clenched and ached and _hurt._

He hadn't spoken about the entire situation to anyone, and he certainly refused to talk about Gabriel dumping him over the last year.

"Sounds toxic," Angela whistled. "I can't believe he hit you. No wonder you ran from him."

"I couldn't face him. I was stupid." Jack turned his head to look at her, keeping his cheek pressed against the table. "You ever done something stupid you regretted?"

Tilting her chair back a little, she glanced out at the wall in front of them. "Well, one time a patient of mine in school touched my thigh and I broke his wrist, then refused to set it. I regret that a little bit."

That brought Jack to a little laughter.

"It's a miracle they let me become a field medic," she said softly. "Did you even look at my records?"

"You're a saint compared to Gabriel and me, don't worry about it."

The shadows ebbed slightly in the presence of Angela's emotional support. There was something about her that made him feel better, perhaps her doctoring experience, but it made him feel the same way Ana's presence had for years now. They brightened the world feel better.

No one had a better strike team than him.

"You are a saint, Commander," Angela said gently. "Have you read the news or the sign up sheets? You are a hero. The moral fiber of Overwatch. That's you! Everyone here joined because of you and what you said."

"That was a script-"

"Bullshit."

"What?"

"You're my hero, at least. You saved my hometown. I remember seeing you and Gabriel and Ana fighting out there, saving people. I wanted to be a hero because of you." Her hand squeezed his shoulder. "I actually became a doctor because of you."

Words fell from his realm of knowledge at this statement. What could he say to that? When he knew how fucked up he was?

Jack just smiled carefully at her.

"Thanks for checking on me, Angela," he whispered, "but you can spend time with everyone else, if you'd prefer."

"What!" Angela slapped her hands on the table and shoved herself up to her feet. "Are you kidding me, Commander? You already promised me a dinner date!"

"I don't know-"

"Pffft, don't give me that. Come along!" She grabbed his hand, her grip warm and soft and firm, grounding him back from his spiral into a dark abyss. For some reason unbeknownst to him, he let himself be raised from the chair and led out of the room, leaving behind his paperwork and laptop.

Upon reaching the group still crowding the front door, Angela shooed everyone away, and, thankfully, no one asked where they were going, too caught up in the prodigal commander's return.

**January 1st 2051**

**7:21 PM**

The quiet drive into town made everything feel easier, with Angela humming happily at the wheel of one of Overwatch's company cars, tapping her fingers along to some song Jack couldn't understand the words to. It sounded obnoxiously poppy and happy, but the way she smiled, the sound of her voice as she bopped along, blonde hair glittering along her shoulders in the bright orange setting sun - it made Jack almost enjoy the sound of it, too.

His nerves calmed exponentially during that short ten minutes, lulling him into what one could consider a false sense of security. This only heightened when she pulled into a little parking lot, behind the stone facade of a very familiar restaurant. Jack's favorite place in the entirety of the town neighboring Overwatch HQ.

He'd found himself there at least once a week in the last year, eating alone, enjoying the silence, taking in a quiet little town that didn't know what he'd been through, or what he'd done. His happy little place.

His fellow team members joined him every once in a while, or surprised him with food from there when he didn't leave his office or the comms room for hours on end. 

Angela must have been paying attention during her short time here, or perhaps Ana had told her at some point. Either way, it filled his heart with warmth, the feeling attempting to whisk away the darkness gathering there, deep in his soul. 

As he climbed out of the car and Angela held out her hand for him to take, he felt much better out of Gabriel Reyes' sight, and he hoped, when they returned to HQ, he wouldn't be there anymore, out with the rest of the crew, out on the town, away from him. 

His own thoughts consumed him whilst Angela led them both towards the front of the restaurant, where a huge, outdoor patio stood by the entrance, covered with umbrellas and tables, enough to seat the entire Overwatch strike team - they'd taken advantage of that several times during very lovely days. Some of the best memories of the last year came from this quaint restaurant.

Watching Ana and Reinhardt flirt gently together, laughing, while Torbjorn and Angela wholeheartedly talked about his children like the old friends they were. Sojourn and Liao arguing about mundane things, then talking about how well their last mission went, huge smiles on their faces.

Angela placed him at one of the patio tables, before happily trotting inside.

In the warm sun, Jack rested his chin in his hand and let his thoughts consume him again. How bad could it be, really, having Gabriel around again? The odds of him being still caught up in their heartache and breakup seemed very small, as Gabriel was not someone who would be so hung up over something as small and miniscule as Jack. Besides, he had so many things to do, he could easily... so easily... avoid everyone in Blackwatch as much as possible.

Tomorrow, Jack would be walking his new cadets through one of their first missions outside their stations, the first time any of them will be using their HUDs in an infiltration of a storage unit owned by an Omnic sympathizer, which was located somewhere in the Paris region. Then, for the rest of the week, there were stacks of other missions, paperwork, meetings he had to do - he would be busy enough to not deal with Blackwatch or Gabriel. And he felt sure his team would help him in his avoidance, especially Angela, if he asked.

But dragging them into his psychotic lover's spat seemed... foolish, childish. Something a commander should not do.

Ah, so, back to suffering alone.

He could deal with that. He was used to that. Having no one else know his insecurities and sadness, it made him feel better, in a strange, fucked up way.

Jack was so lost in thought, he barely noticed Angela returning to the table with two boxes of food and two drinks until she plopped it down loud in front of him and said, "Commander Morrison!"

The title caught him off guard enough to glance up from where he'd been staring at the small, wavy mandala-like patterns on the tabletop, blinked several times at Angela's pretty face as she sat down in front of him.

She sighed loudly, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "This really has you messed up, doesn't it, Jack?"

He said nothing, instead turning his attention to the contents of his own take out box. He was surprised to find his usual order in the box, and also extremely thankful. It was easier to stuff his face with Swiss pancakes and fruit than it was to respond to how messed up he truly felt.

"Okay, if you don't want to talk about that." Angela delicately shoved half a croissant into her mouth, before leveling him with a vicious, burning stare. "Why don't you tell me about Commander Reyes."

His fork slipped, nearly flinging out of his hand. "What?"

"Just seems like a pretty epic romance, that everyone knows about, except me. Just wondering what I missed," she replied. "And the way everyone loves him back at HQ... It's fascinating." 

"Uh..." Jack glanced down at his food again, appetite waning after three bites. His thoughts swirled a mile a minute with the prospect of putting Gabriel Reyes into discernible words. How could one remotely describe him that way? To someone who had never truly spent enough time around him to grasp how nothing as mundane as words could describe him? Sucking in a deep breath, he figure he would give it a shot anyway. "Gabe is..."

"Gabe, huh?" Angela immediately interrupted. "I always found nicknames to be so sweet."

That warranted a laugh from him, albeit a nervous one. "Yeah, _nicknames_."

"What did he call you, then?" She jabbed her fork across the table at him. "Out with it."

"Pretty boy, mostly." His cheeks heated immensely. It'd been so long since he heard Gabriel call him that, and he hated how much he missed it; sometimes, he still woke up in a cold sweat, dreaming of that voice whispering those words to him, grabbing him, raking his blunt nails across Jack's milky inner thighs - some of the first technical sex dreams he'd experienced in his entire life.

"Oh!" Angela clapped her hands together, clapping her shoes against the cobblestone sidewalk beneath them. "I see!"

Heat continuing to build in his face, Jack quickly switched the conversation back to safe railing. "We were together for a long time. Years. My entire adult life up to last year."

"You said that earlier, but what does that mean, exactly?"

"Mmm. Met at SEP, I'd only been a soldier for a few months. Inseparable from that moment. All those great missions they told you at Overwatch recruiting ceremonies, I did all those with Gabriel at my side. Hell, I think I did all that _because_ he was with me. Partners. Teammates." A familiar fluttering started in his chest, a warmth in his stomach. "He's a wonderful commander. Far better than I will ever be."

"Better than you?" Angela's brow rose into her golden bangs, lips parting. "How so?"

"Well," Jack tilted his head. "It's hard to put this in words, but if I was ever in trouble, I would go straight to Reyes. Even if I hated him, and even if he hated me, he'd be there to help."

Shoving a large piece of bread in her mouth, Angela spoke again, "Does the rest of your team know you feel this way?"

He thought back to the way his strike team acted after the fight and the break up. The way their eyes wondered over him each morning, as if looking for visible signs of his pain. "I suspect Ana does, she was there throughout most of our relationship, but no one else is aware. They just know we were together, and then we fought, and I was heartbroken for six months." Jack sighed, heavily, from deep down in his core. "I know it all sounds childish and stupid for me to talk like this, but-"

"Jack, sweetheart." Angela's hand reached across the table and folded itself across his, squeezing tightly with cool fingertips. "You're human. Don't think you have to be above things like emotions and feelings. You can't help that you were in love with him and you got hurt. That happens to everyone."

"Not to me," Jack whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing, I just-"

_"Commander Morrison! Angela!"_

The boisterous voice echoed out across the quiet cafe patio, and Jack's heart immediately dropped into the pits of his stomach. Doom loomed over their nice dinner date like a black cloud, but still, he glanced slowly over his shoulder.

Reinhardt stood across the street, with everyone trailing behind him. His entire squad, with Gabriel at the head.

Gabriel, and their new recruit, Jesse McCree. He had his arm slung over the little cowboy's shoulders, standing lazily, looking directly in Jack's direction. Easy going like this encounter meant nothing to him, and McCree was looking up at him, saying something with animated, young expressions, and Jack thought, for a split second, he was going to fling himself into the middle of the busy road.

"We're taking Gabe out to eat! Would you like to join us?" Ana shouted out.

A smirk crossed Gabriel's mouth, one Jack could _feel_, even from feet away. Gabriel lowered his head and buried his nose in McCree's chestnut hair, messy and windblown.

Jack had definitely seen enough.

"No, thank you, Ana, Reinhardt." He rose from his chair, quickly gathering his food and drink messily in his arms, waving his free hand quickly in front of him. "I gotta head back to HQ to finish my paperwork."

"Jack-" Angela hissed.

"Sorry," he mumbled, before turning on his heel and hightailing it all the way back to HQ, not daring to slow down even for a millisecond until he threw himself into the command room and slammed the door behind him.

Breathing heavily, he closed his eyes, and whispered one word to the empty, silent room around him.

"Shit."

**January 5th 2051**

**4:50 AM**

The next day, Tuesday, the mission was postponed to Saturday very suddenly, due to new evidence being sorted through; the brass demanded Jack above anyone else, and he simply agreed for the comfort of his cadets. Some of them were on their first mission, but they had Reinhardt and Liao. Everything would go fine. He trusted them deeply and went on with paperwork, marking on his Parisian map to make sure the route was safe. He hid in the office for the rest of the day, only slipping out when everyone else went to bed.

On Wednesday, he had a phone meeting with several generals, that lasted two hours. It devolved into two of the highest ranking generals screaming about the movements of a brand new, extremely powerful Omnic sympathizer, whom had created a cult in their honor and was now performing terrorist attacks in their name. It was loud, and stupid, and annoying, because Jack didn't feel like he pulled enough weight to tell them both to sit down and shut up, since his team held the brunt of the missions involving this cult. 

Thus, he mentally zoned out, his eyes wandering over to the window. Out in the front lawns of Overwatch, he saw Reinhardt walking with Ana, hand on her back, as she looked up at him with a bright smile. His heart grew warm at the sight, and he smiled - _"He's an insane cultist, not your grandmother!" General Backenridge screamed in the background._

Jack huffed a small laugh, letting his gaze wander further out on the lawns, towards a thicket of trees where most of his team relaxed during downtime, had picnics, relaxed. 

His muscles stalled, and he could no longer hear the arguing, because Gabriel was sitting underneath one of the large trees, stretched out along the grass, wearing sweatpants and a black t-shirt, neither of which left anything to the imagination. Jesse McCree sat beside him, sitting slightly taller, and saying something that made Gabriel laugh.

White noise roared in Jack's ears.

McCree reached down and stroked a hand along Gabriel's thick thigh.

Jack slammed his curtains shut, plunging his room into total darkness.

Once the meeting ended, with the general screaming about how they would have a real meeting sometime Friday morning, he threw himself immediately into bed.

Thursday, he couldn't sleep, spent all night reading reports on the cultist manifesto posted online, studying the cryptic threats he made towards future attacks; he'd already sent it to his intelligence committee in Switzerland for them to decode, but he liked to read up on things for himself so he knew how to respond when his team members got back to him. 

It had been three days since he spoke to someone; Angela and Ana tried, but only got a half-hearted, quick response, before mumbling about being busy with this sixteen-page-long-madman's-rant.

They understood, of course, because they were amazing, wonderful people. Ana touched his face and kissed his head and went on her way, and Angela said she would be back around lunch to make sure he had food.

Their sweet actions made him feel worse.

Physically, he knew having Gabriel around was not bad in a technical sense. He knew him moving on and laying hands on a young little cowboy from a biker bang wasn't as evil as his heart presumed it to be, because they had been broken up for an entire year now. However, mentally, none of the scientific facts mattered, because something about it dragged him down into the abyss.

Perhaps it had been the conversation at the restaurant with Angela. Talking about how wonderful Gabriel was and how much he respected him - it broke some part of him in half and refused to heal. The one whom convinced himself Gabriel was not worth his heartache, when he actually was worth every bit of it and more, whilst Jack felt worth nothing. Nothing! And that felt the worst of all.

So, he stewed. Self hatred brewing harshly.

Anxiety growing.

He couldn't bring himself to speak or look at Gabriel, and the worst part - he had no idea if that was even normal for heartbreak, or if he was being an obsessive weirdo! Of course, he remembered vividly how his old group of friends didn't want to be around their exes, but they were teenagers at the time. Surely things were different, people matured about break ups as they grew older - he was a God damn grown man, for fuck's sake!

Proof, though, he had none of.

It frankly felt as though he were going batshit insane.

By Friday, Jack Morrison found himself a man unhinged. Not sleeping, not eating, barely communicating with any other human person, he started understanding the Omnic cult leader more and more by the second. Blowing up entire cities? Distracting himself from any actual real problems with the threat of violence? Sounded like a great plan! He'd get right on that if he didn't love his own team as much as he did.

He'd spent so much time working on the mission, he'd run completely out of things to do already, with sixteen hours till the Paris infiltration. He'd scheduled everything perfectly, down to the minute detail of where Rodriguez, their best pilot, would enter Paris airspace, and where the pickup site would be. That information had already been sent to Liao and Reinhardt's HUDs for tomorrow, and he'd already sent very detailed e-mails of the infiltration's itinerary to his cadets, to put their mind at ease.

Then, he'd spent the rest of the entire night writing theories on what he thought the cryptic threats in the manifesto meant. Though his thoughts had been scattered everywhere all at once, he thought it may have had something to do with a place in Monte Carlo. One sentence stuck out to him more than the others. "Bending for the masses, three times an acclaimed man," made him think it had something to do with a statue, and of course, Monte Carlo had just erected a large statue in honor of a hero, said to be eighteen feet tall, or, three times an average sized man, so he wrote that down and awaited his intelligence team's response.

At one AM, he received a message from said team, saying their response would probably come sometime during Saturday, as they were having a very hard time.

When four AM rolled around, Jack received a glaringly loud message from General Backenridge, demanding he attend the video meeting in the command center in two hours. He agreed, and then thought he might, instead, just walk outside and not return; of course, he couldn't do that, so he before blearily moved downstairs and into the kitchen. 

The hallways around him were empty and quiet, doorways closed, the gentle sounds of sleeping activities fluttering through the roaring quiet around him. 

It sat empty, except one thing.

A freshly brewed pot of dark coffee sat on the counter, with his mug sitting beside it. A mug Gabriel and Ana had handmade and painted for his 23rd birthday - covered in messy hearts and scrawled writing that could be no one else's but Gabriel's. **Old Man** was written along the front messily, and Jack cherished it, he used it every morning without fail, just another reminder of how entwined his life was with his former lover and best friend.

Jack gently ran a finger along the crudely drawn hearts framing the words, and then across the small items directly beside it. Two sugar packets and two small creams. The exact way he'd been making his coffee since he was a youngster.

He imagined Ana had set it out for him and prepared coffee; she often did sweet things like that when he'd had a long week, or when it was her turn to cook breakfast. He made a mental note to cook her favorite dinner tonight as thanks. He let himself relax in that warmth for a couple moments before pouring his mug full.

His next stop was the command center and this went far faster. All his paperwork and files still sat neatly upon the table where he'd left them. This debriefing would no doubt devolve into more screaming, with absolutely nothing being accomplished, or, as Jack liked to call it, _the usual_, so he might as well bring something to read whilst they argued.

Honestly, he had no idea how Gabriel had gotten through so many of them without punching anyone; though, in hindsight, maybe that was why they'd made a move to video meetings and comm calls. He scooped the stacks up in one arm, before heading next door to the meeting room.

Using his shoulder, he pushed it open, back turned to the room.

"Hey, Jack."

He stopped dead in his tracks, like a deer caught in headlights.

On the other side of the table sat Gabriel Reyes, wearing a dark hoodie and dark jeans, facial expression soft as he looked up at him. The scenario looked so utterly familiar and whole, for a split second, he wondered if the last year had just been a bad dream, and nothing had changed, because... Ten years had passed, and yet, he looked the same as he did the first moment Jack laid eyes on him in the SEP sign up room.

The sight of him, now so close, sent a white hot dagger right through his heart and twisted it.

Fuck.

"Gabe," he heard a voice that sounded eerily similar to his own in the roaring silence of the room.

Gabriel's shoulders slumped forward, and an easy smile flitted across his face. Lucky for Jack, he already was within a couple feet of a chair, because his legs nearly gave out underneath him. He hurried forward, yanking one out from underneath the table with very little elegance.

"What-" He carefully sat himself down, laying his papers and mug down with shaking hands. "What are you doing here?"

"Backenridge told me I have to be in these meetings from now on, in case Blackwatch needs to be recruited." He tapped his fingers along the tabletop rhythmically, Jack couldn't help but watch the way his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

"Oh, I... I see."

Gabriel released a loud, pent-up breath, and lifted a steaming mug up to his lips. Glittery. Bright Pink. Covered in hand painted stars. Curving, windy letters read **Big Man** on the front. Jack had given him a matching one for his birthday the same year, as revenge. That particular mug had mocked Jack each morning when he opened the cabinet to make his own coffee, because Gabriel hadn't been able to take it with him during his Deadlock sting. After a couple months, he'd turned it around so he couldn't see the letters anymore, and eventually, he stopped thinking about it.

He figured Gabriel had forgotten, too.

Yet, here he was, sipping from it naturally, like old times, like ten years ago, like the first time he used it when he couldn't stop smiling at the fact that Jack had purposely called him Big Man. The pink made such a harsh contrast to his gruff demeanor, dark clothes, and thick, dark facial hair, a smile crossed Jack's face before he could stop himself.

"Nice mug," he commented.

Gabriel's raised one dark eyebrow over the edge of his cup at him. He smirked, cocky, as he lowered it. "Yeah, you, too."

"The pink really brings out your eyes, you know." Jack snickered softly under his breath, flipping open the top page of his file. 

"Mhm, you like the coffee, asshole?" 

He stopped thumbing through the top pages to peer up at Gabriel through his lashes. "You made it?"

"Yeah. Left your mug out for you and you give me attitude? Pfft." Gabriel leaned back in his chair, crossing his thick arms over his broad chest.

"Oh, uh." Jack cleared his throat. Butterflies raged deep underneath his ribcage, as he purposely tried not to look at the way his muscles flexed in his arms, stretching the thin fabric in his hoodie.

Gabriel tilted his head, half-smiling. Just as handsome as he remembered. And fully aware of how he looked.

"Thank you, Gabriel," he finally choked out, breathless. His chest felt tight, like someone reached inside his sternum and squeezed his heart until it stopped.

Shit.

This probably wasn't good.

Jack quickly dropped his gaze to his paperwork. The words looked like incomprehensible babble, even though he'd written the top page himself; he blinked several times before they finally became clear to him, and he breathed in as deep as he could to settle himself and his nerves. _This isn't as bad as it could be, Jack. You can get through it. At least you two aren't clawing each other's faces off._

He pursed his lips, turning the page. _Or screaming at each other._

The silence stretched on for miles between them, as Jack let that thought wash over him in a thick sludge. There was no way in hell that'd happen, of course, not with Gabriel having his new little boy toy with tight jeans and strong, thick arms; he surely didn't care about Jack and their breakup anymore. Thus, there would be no reason for them to fight again.

Not like before, at least.

"So, uh - all this-" Gabriel gestured vaguely at the stack of paperwork. "What is it about?"

Jack glanced up, considering him for a second, before sliding the heavy stack of papers across the table. "This is the manifesto of an Omnic Cult Leader, posted on an Overwatch information forum. It's-"

"In code," Gabriel supplied quickly, after only looking at the first of the sixteen page long rant. "Have you read all this?"

"Yes. I've read it once."

"Do you know the code?"

"No. I only have my theories."

"Mmm. Could I hear some? Since... I'm on this case, too?"

"Yes, of course."

Before Jack could reach out to grab the file to show him, Gabriel slid everything across the table, including his mug, and rose from his chair. Jack opened his mouth to ask what he was doing, but Gabriel just smiled at him as he climbed over the tabletop and dropped into the chair beside him.

Close.

So close.

The scent of Gabriel's thick, wonderful, familiar designer cologne wafted through his senses. The aroma felt intimate, in a way, natural; it had been the everyday smell of his life for years, seared into his fucking soul. He woke up with it on his clothes, on his sheets, on his pillowcases. His skin would smell like it after a long night, wrapped in those strong arms, lips pressed against any inch they could catch.

His heart hurt, suddenly and so ferociously, he found it hard to breathe.

_At least we aren't tearing each other's clothes off like a couple toxic teenagers._

Gabriel, though, continued with the conversation, unaware, flipping to another page of the manifesto. "Are these hints at where his next attacks will be?"

"Uh-" Jack stammered. "Yes. From what... we can tell. The intelligence team is looking further into it for me. The last three papers are my theories on the file, if you want to read them."

Gabriel hummed, excited, and immediately skipped to the end of the stack.

And Jack could not tear his eyes away from the beautiful man beside him, concentrating. His gaze stroked across the familiar, sharp, strong jawline. The lines of his throat. The curve of his lips, down turned in his focus, and the scar across his nose, faded. He still remembered the way it had bled when a bullet grazed him, and the way Gabriel had continued fighting, unaware of his own injury as he was so ensconced in rescuing everyone around them. His uniform had been ruined, bloodied, gore dripping down his face.

When he realized he was bleeding, he'd messily wiped the blood away with the back of his hand and kissed Jack harshly on the mouth, spreading his essence across Jack's mouth and jawline. The downright thrill of that feeling, he could still conjure it up and remember the way his heart beat and his hands shook during those few, brief moments on the battlefield.

Nearly each and every scar on his body, Jack witnessed the origin and had been the one to patch him up, pick him up off the ground, and hold him afterwards. And Gabriel could easily do the same for each mark on Jack's skin.

Shit.

_Shit._

He'd been avoiding Gabriel this week out of fear of what would happen if they spoke again. Screaming, crying, fighting - sure, but falling back into their usual, easy relationship? Like nothing happened? The entire situation felt unsettling, terrifying, just how comfortable he immediately felt again despite everything he'd been through the last year.

From the easy conversation as they read over the theories together. From the way he felt... whole again, just for a few minutes, just long enough to _hurt_.

That scared him more than anything else possibly could.

His entire consciousness felt numb by the time the screens along the meeting room walls lit up and flickered to life. In the middle sat General Backenridge. A second general and a commander-in-chief were on the screens to the left, and a major and a lieutenant general were on the right, wearing their decorated uniforms, bedazzled by medals and trophies and accomplishments, while Jack and Gabriel sat shoulder to shoulder, in hoodies and jeans, drinking cold coffee out of sloppily painted ten-year-old mugs.

Warmth filled him to the brim and bubbled over, at the sight of their reflections in the large screens. Together.

This part had always been easiest of all. Business. Missions. Overwatch activities. Being his partner and team member, working with him. The ease at which he fell back into this particular thing scared him, fulfilled him, worried him - all at once, taking his breath away.

"Good morning, Strike Commander Morrison, Commander Reyes," General Backenridge greeted gruffly.

"Good morning," they answered in unison.

Everyone else greeted each other in their own terms, voices tight, obviously prepared for the ensuing argument about every detail of debriefing, before the other generals and lieutenant generals greeted each other, and then the two of them.

"Before we start the debriefing, I would just like to thank Reyes for his six month long sting of the Deadlock gang," the Commander-in-Chief clapped his hands together. "Welcome back, Commander."

"Thanks," Gabriel replied, ever his gruff self.

"How's the new recruit doing?"

"Mmm, Jesse's been adjusting quite well to Blackwatch."

Ha. Jack rolled his eyes and lifted his mug to his lips again. More like adjusting to the advances of the most handsome man in the world. Resisting his flirtations were the hardest part at first, because he was so damn good at _words_, his voice a mix of smooth, black silk and burning, harsh whiskey. Anything he said sounded like the sexiest, hottest thing to ever exist irresistible.

Well, his resolve was quickly falling apart at the seams.

"Great!" one of the majors croaked. "When will his first outing as a recruit take place?"

"Once I've trained him, more than likely. He knows how to be in a gang, but he doesn't know anything about how we do things in Overwatch," Gabriel pointed out. "He's a fast learner, though. Smart kid. He'll catch on. Should be ready for a Blackwatch mission soon."

"Well, how about in two weeks?"

Gabriel sat straight up in his chair, boots hitting the floor loudly. "Two weeks?"

"Two weeks?" Jack flew to his feet, enraged in the blink of an eye. Fuck how he felt about McCree, this was just downright stupid! "Are you serious? There is a full two months of mandatory training, required for each new recruit. Anything less is dangerous!"

"That's really up to Reyes," Backenridge explained. "He's Blackwatch's commander, Morrison. He will know what is best for his team-"

"I disagree, Backenridge." Gabriel placed his hands on the table and pushed his chair back, screeching across the tile floor. "Commander Morrison oversees Overwatch's entirety, remember?"

"Yes, but we wanted to hear-"

"No. You're wrong." Gabriel raised to his full, imposing height, and approached the screens. "Jack is my Strike Commander, and McCree's as well, and he knows what's right for all of us. Including anyone who falls under Blackwatch's jurisdiction."

Oh.

_Oh yeah._

He remembered now.

He'd forgotten about this, the way he held himself in the meeting room, against people three times his rank. The way he commanded the entire scenario, and how people, even the highest ranking official in the military, couldn't help but stop and listen to him. The strongest presence Jack ever witnessed. It made his heart stall and race all at once.

The naked body. His handsome face. His muscles.

Those were all things that had once turned Jack on in the every day, but without a doubt, his commanding, professional aura remained the most attractive thing about Gabriel Reyes.

A pity not many people got to experience this side of him.

The generals remained silent following Gabriel's words.

Gabriel huffed a deep laugh. "So, will we listen to what Jack has to say?"

"Of course," Backenridge sighed, sounding tired. "Commander Morrison, what is your take on this?"

His jeans feeling a little tighter than before, Jack cleared his throat and launched himself into the meeting. In the end, they agreed to meet halfway and settle for training McCree for nearly four weeks under the constant supervision of Gabriel. He was perfect for the job, considering he'd spent years training the Overwatch recruits until they were perfect soldiers.

And as far as McCree went, Jack felt like Gabriel would seek out the perfect training for him on his own personal terms. How much of that would actually be _training_ instead of _seducing_? Who knew, but he had no other choice.

He trusted Gabriel to do the right thing.

The rest of the debriefing consisted of infiltration talks. Was the team ready for it? How were the recruits feeling? Who would be escorting them? Where was the extraction point? Jack answered all of them with vigor and confidence, because he'd been preparing for this for the entire week, writing down even the smallest detail so he'd know what to tell the recruits on the comms when the time came.

He strived for safety and quick, efficient action. 

Gabriel kept his eyes on him the entire time, a white hot energy at his back, making him feel powerful.

The meeting signed off with the reminder of the take off time for Paris, and the screens faded to black. Jack released a pentup breath, the air thick around them, as it typically was following any interaction with General Backenridge.

He slumped one hip against the table, exhaustion setting into his bones.

"Sorry I kind of took over for a second," Gabriel said, leaning close as he picked up his now empty mug from the tabletop.

"No, it's okay, Gabe." Jack swallowed hard. "I appreciate what you said."

"I know you do." Gabriel's shoulder bumped his own. "I knew you'd be a better strike commander than me."

"Ha!" Jack scooped up his file and mug, pushing away from the table. "Bullshit, Gabriel."

"Yeah, yeah, say what you want, Jackie. Everyone else believes me." He raised a shoulder, relaxed, and pressed his back against the door, raising his empty mug as if for a cheers. "The second I walked through that door, that's all I heard from everyone."

Gabriel scrunched his nose up, and when he spoke again, his voice was high-pitched and had a strange accent to it - like he was attempting to impersonate Ana and Torbjorn all at once. "_Jack is the greatest commander. We love Jack. Don't you wanna see Jack?_"

"They just missed you, you know."

"Yeah, I know." 

_And I missed you, too._

Unsaid words hung heavily in the air between them. Jack couldn't tell if Gabriel knew what he wanted to say, or if he wanted to say something himself, but from the way he stood stock still, shoulders tensing, door halfway open behind him, it certainly looked possible.

Especially the way his eyes darkened. The way it did right before he did something that made Jack remember he held no control in their relationship, imprisoned by thick thighs and skillful hands.

His hands shook, as he took a step forward, like a sailor drawn to the cries of a mermaid, singing about killing and eating men.

"Ah, shit." Gabriel shoved the door open the rest of the way behind him, breaking their eye contact, and forcing Jack to come to a stop. "I was supposed to meet Jesse after this. See ya, Jack."

And just like that, he was gone. Disappeared into the hallway. Jack distantly heard his heavy footsteps booking it up the staircase and onto the second floor as fast as possible. Leaving him, yet again. 

The weight of the world collapsed onto Jack's shoulders, and he flopped his entire weight back in his original seat, dropping the files and his mug on the tabletop. It was all he could do. His legs felt too weak to carry him to the third floor, all the way to his bedroom. 

Now, he was left with nothing but his own thoughts.

Jack slumped his forehead against the meeting table. Defeated.

Eventually, sleep overtook him in a black wave. 

Alone, with nothing but a cultist manifesto and the ringing of foreign dangers to keep him company. He dreamt of nothing, just blackness and the faint taste of whiskey, the feeling of silk on his skin.

Until a loud bang jerked him from his slumber. Blurry eyed, on shaky legs, he shoved himself away from the table and looked around for dangers - only to find Angela standing in the closed doorway, arms crossed over her chest, jaw clenched, looking very disappointed and angry. She wore a dark, waist length sweater, hair curled and hanging bouncy around her face. Was that makeup? Red lipstick?

Attempting to blink away his sleepiness, he plopped back down in his chair. "What's wrong, Angela? You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"I've had enough, Commander," she said simply, raising one shoulder. 

Jack swiped a hand down his face. "Enough of what? What happened?"

"Enough of you! You haven't left your office in what? Four days now? No one has even spoken to you!" 

Even before he said it, he felt guilty for lying to her. "I've been busy with Saturday's assignment."

According to the vapid look on her face, she believed none of that. Jack expected as much. "Wrong answer, mister. Sojourn told me you did this same thing a year ago!"

"It's not the same thing as before," he whispered softly.

"Well, that was before me," Angela continued, completely ignoring anything he said. "Now, c'mon." Angela moved closer to him, and outstretched a hand. "Everyone is taking Blackwatch out to drink, and Ana wants you to come with them. Hell, I want you to come with us."

He looked incredulously at her opened palm, inviting, and yet very clearly written with his impending demise across her delicate fingers.

"Don't give me that look," she snapped. "You can't hide in your office forever, when your ex is hanging off some pretty boy. You have to give it back to him!"

"I can't begin to imagine what that means," he said flatly.

Angela's shoulder jerked like she'd been slapped in the face; so hard, she took a step back, shaking her head. "Is this... Jack, is this the first time you've had your heart broken in your entire life?"

Fuck. He really hadn't wanted to say that to anyone. "Yes."

"Wow. Okay, then. That makes a lot more sense as to why you're acting so strange." Angela quickly recovered herself before rushing forward and grabbing him by his wrist, her grip vice tight. "I'm showing you how to deal with seeing your ex again."

Ha! Some cavernous part of his soul laughed bitterly at the prospect of strong and stoic Gabriel Reyes flinching even slightly at the sight of little, tiny Jack Morrison again; despite what happened between them at their meeting - jealousy and attempts to make Gabriel pay attention to something he did not want to pay attention to were two things that didn't work.

Gabriel never did something he didn't want to do.

And from the way he had his arm around Jesse McCree's shoulders, Jack could see this being even harder. "It won't work on Gabriel," he bit out, the bitter taste of the words coating the inside of his mouth like a thick sludge.

"Yes, it will!" Angela snapped, her fingers tightening along his wrist. With the strength of someone twice her size, she dragged him toward the comms room door, giving him no more room for arguing.

**January 5th 2051**

**7 PM**

This was incredibly stupid.

How had Angela roped him into this?

The entire situation escalated so quickly in the meeting room, Jack had been whipped up into a tornado of which he did not understand. Angela had dragged him to his bedroom and demanded to see what outfit Gabriel liked him in the most while they were sleeping together - a very strange question, but Jack immediately had an answer, of course, what with Gabriel always being completely honest about how attractive he found Jack in two variations of clothing - tight or anything that belonged to Gabriel.

The question still made his ears burn red with embarrassment, though, as he had to point out a shirt that belonged to Gabriel, but had gotten too small when he bulked up far passed Jack's own mass. Angela ignored his blushing and twirled around him like a woman possessed, throwing him combat boots and tight pants and ruffling his hair until it looked purposely mussed. After asking him for the exact cologne Gabriel liked on him, and Jack had to sheepishly say _He liked when I smelled like him_, Angela crinkled her nose up and said, _"You two must have been disgusting to watch."_ And that made Jack laugh in a way that hid the ache in the cavern of his chest.

They probably had been disgusting to watch together.

He missed it deeply.

He'd shoved all that down, though, when Angela grabbed her finished product and yanked him down the staircase with the rest of the crowd. Gabriel, at the forefront, standing beside McCree at the front doors, glanced up at him when they descended the staircase.

The glance lasted approximately ten seconds. Jack knew, because that was how long he stopped breathing.

"I have no idea what I'm doing," he whispered when Gabriel looked away.

"It's working," Angela mumbled back. "He's already looking at you."

Jack did not see it that way. "Probably because he hates me."

"Bullshit," came the snippy quip beside him. "Now, you are going to have fun at the bar with everyone else? You are going to loosen up and drink, and look like you don't have a care in the world, you got me?"

Jack did not _get her_, but he nodded regardless, his hands numb at his sides as he watched Gabriel smile and say something that made Reinhardt laugh boisterously.

**January 5th 2051**

**7:31 PM**

They found a bar willing to give them the place to themselves in town, as local heroes were kin to celebrities. The place quickly became crowded with their teams, a bustle of bodies, loud and cheering, cadets mingling with the Overwatch Strike Team and Blackwatch.

Angela dragged Jack to a seat beside him and ordered him a drink, which he tried to argue against. He'd stopped drinking very much a while back, when he realized he tended to get a little _messy_ after a certain point.

And, amongst it all, Gabriel was the center of attention.

Of course he'd be, and Jack should not have been surprised by this. Everyone missed their first commander, their friend. His own jealousy felt nigh impossible to swallow down, watching his strike team crowd around him, celebrate him. Love him, Reinhardt and Liao laughing, Torbjorn showing him baby photos, Ana hugging him and chatting very quickly. No one had paid Jack much mind at the end of the bar, because, honestly, why would they?

They saw him every single day this passed year.

They hadn't seen Gabriel for twelve entire months. Three hundred and sixty five days. Eight thousand hours.

The length of their time apart loomed out in front of Jack like an ever stretching, ever painful plain of nightmares, especially now that he'd had a taste of having Gabriel back - even for a split second. He swallowed hard, mentally said fuck it, and carefully took his first sip of alcohol. Beside him, Angela was laughing gently at something, as Liao inched towards her to order his third drink already.

He wasn't sure what Angela ended up ordering and handing to him, but it tasted terrible. A shiver coursed down his spine, and he glanced down, forlornly, at his own reflection swaying along the surface. The face staring back at him in the amber liquid looked nothing like the man whom greeted him each morning this last year, whom had built himself up from nothing.

This man looked back at him with dark circles and haunted eyes. Sunken cheeks and down turned lips.

He no longer knew who he was.

Because he didn't feel like the same person who'd grown stronger and stronger every single day, who had spent time learning how to be happy and himself again.

It only took Gabriel Reyes three seconds to destroy a year of work.

All because of some gentle conversation and flirations in the debriefing room, the sounds of their matching mugs clinking against the table top. Those couple hours together had changed and awakened something in side him, because...

Well, frankly, it reminded him he was still in love with Gabriel Reyes.

The injustice of it all infuriated him.

He'd heard stories of firefighters removing oxygen from the equation during oil related fires, by detonating dynamite in the area - the blast effectively ate up all the local oxygen, leaving nothing for the smaller fire to thrive off.

This felt no different.

He thought he'd been over Gabriel. He thought he could forget, after they'd said their goodbyes and he'd left Gabriel's side with a bloodied lip and tears running down his cheeks. He thought he had created a warm, easy, comfortable fire to grow in.

So why? Why? Why was Gabriel robbing his gentle fire of valuable oxygen?

Like a blast, he destroyed everything in his wake and in front of everyone willing to watch. The scariest part, he wasn't sure Gabriel did it on purpose with any malcontent towards him, it was just the way he loved. With his entire body, his entire soul, trying to consume him whole until he couldn't be with anyone else without remembering every single detail of him like a ghost. Jack had been forced to do so already. Everywhere he went, he saw him, he smelled him, he thought of him.

And it seemed like Jack did not have that same effect on him, as he seemed not nearly as messed up as Jack.

While he roiled in misery, everyone around him immediately fell into an easy, good time. Laughter and chattering, happiness all around him when he felt nothing but darkness and gloom descending on him like a heavy weight. Angela seemed to be the only one sticking around for his sad aura.

She kept speaking happily beside him, talking about something - for the life of him, he couldn't keep up with the subject of the conversation. He simply kept nodding and drinking, agreeing, sometimes responding with what he thought she might want to hear.

It went on this way for quite a while, until he heard Angela say something about Liao -

And only then did he notice Liao slinking up beside him, glass empty for the fourth time, shoulders bumping as he leaned in beside him. "Commander, you good?" His voice was dropped to a barely audible tenor amongst the rambunctious voices spiraling around him, the clinks of beer bottles and glasses.

Jack raised an eyebrow towards him, surprised he came over at all. "Yes," he whispered.

"Yes! He is fine!" Angela shoved a fresh glass of dark liquid into his hands, taking the now empty one away - he hadn't remembered drinking it all. "The three of us are gonna get hammered and have a nice time-"

Liao looked incredulously at Jack, brow furrowed together, unconvinced by Angela's pep and bubbles. "Really?" He slipped a hand onto his shoulder and squeezed. "I know this is... uh... probably weird for you."

Surprised again, Jack quickly shook his head. "It's fine. I'm just - I'm... fine."

Liao smiled gently. It made Jack's heart ache in a way he hadn't felt in a very long time, seeing pity directed towards him. "Would you like a drinking buddy?"

"Thank you!" Angela cried, and tossed back her own drink in one swoop, before swarming in on the two of them with both her arms. Then, her face dropped to a very serious note and she lowered her voice, and gravely, she said, "I'm showing him how to get revenge on an ex."

This time, it was Liao raising his brow in surprise. "You're trying to do that to _Reyes_?" His gaze darted out towards the Blackwatch commander.

Ah, yes, that was exactly what he thought. While he truly appreciated her energetic attempts to make him better, help his trauma, he, and apparently no one else, believed this. "I told you, I doubt this is going to work," he whispered. "You don't know Gabe like I do."

"He's a man," Angela said flatly, clinking her glass against the counter top. "You two had sex, right?"

Jack glanced slowly at Liao, suddenly realizing someone else was listening to this conversation. 

Liao, however, just smiled. "It's okay, Commander. I'm a grown man. I can hear about my two dads boinking, you know."

"Yes, we had sex."

"Then this will work." Her eyes were wide and imploring. "Tell him, Liao."

Liao's eyes widened, obviously taken aback. "Uh... I - I mean-"

"You don't have to answer that," Jack interjected.

Liao scratched at the back of his neck shyly, gaze raking up and down Jack's body and outfit, scrutinizing him. He remained silent for a few, very long moments of awkward silence.

It stretched so far in front of him, Jack raised his hand. "You really don't have to answer that, Liao. You can go drink with everyone else if you'd like."

"No, no," Liao interrupted. "I mean, Commander, if I saw you looking like this, knowing I'd fucked up, it _would_ bug me."

A squeak of joy released from Angela, so high pitched, Jack thought he may have felt his glass rattle and threaten to shatter, her hands clapping together.

Heat rose into his ears and cheeks, breath catching in his chest. The first time he'd been called attractive or handsome by anyone, had been by Gabriel. 

This brought a strange sense of unease and hurt into his stomach, as well as warmth from his friend's kind words. Both Liao and Angela, trying their hardest, and here he was, spitting in the face of everyone trying to help him. He'd spent the entire morning smelling Gabriel and remembering how great it felt to touch him, to talk to him, to be within his general vicinity. Instead of staying strong and continuing with all the progress he'd made.

Instead, he purposely dove headlong into heartache.

It made him feel like shit. "Thank you, Liao," he whispered instead, lowering his gaze to the bartop. 

"No problem, Jack. C'mon, let's drink." He nudged their shoulders together, leaning in close again.

Alright, Jack thought, fingers tingling. His team loved him. Without a doubt, he knew they did, so he could get through this for them. He didn't have to let this destroy him, right? Because he had people relying on him and looking forward to him still being their commander.

He knew that.

He truly knew that.

But... 

As Jack took a drink in tandem with Liao and Angela, both of them now conversing with each other, Liao's shoulder still touching his. Something felt wrong and not right about being in the bar.

He felt as though he shouldn't be there and he should just go back to his room. A pit grew in his stomach as each second passed in what should have been happy, easy company.

That's when a horrible voice in his head said _you should get drunk until you don't feel sad anymore._

Healthy.

Jack gulped his drink as fast as he could and Angela laughed and ordered another. Each time he ordered a drink, Liao clapped him on the shoulder and drank with him.

This went on until Jack's body felt light and floating, about six drinks in. He thought he could breathe easily.

Until Liao muttered something beside him, barely loud enough to him to hear. "What's _that_ about?"

Jack brought his gaze up to look across the bar.

Gabriel slipped an arm around Jesse McCree's shoulders and pulled him close against his chest. Jesse looked up at him with wide eyes, like a puppy, before laying a hand atop his forearm, and Gabriel leaned down. With abhorrence, Jack watched Gabriel's mouth drape across Jesse McCree's in an obvious display of public affection. Right in front of everyone.

Right where he could see it.

Ana, Reinhardt, Liao, Angela, Torbjorn. They all watched him kiss McCree. This newcomer.

This person no one knew.

That's when a drunk Jack Morrison realized something with cold blooded horror. He understood what happened. He... understood... sickly - he felt bile rise in the back of his throat.

While he was skulking in his own shadows, considering therapy, his teammates holding him and building him back until he was strong again... Gabriel was... _MOVING ON!_ He was flirting with this kid, sleeping with him, too, wooing and seducing in the way he was so good at. The way Jack wanted to be seduced again; he'd known it since he first laid eyes on Gabriel's arm around his shoulder, he knew it, in his heart of hearts, but seeing this... felt different.

Seeing him kiss in front of all their friends, when Gabriel refused to hold his hand or hug him in front of anyone during the years they were sleeping together. He said he didn't want anyone to know he was fucking a soldier under his command, didn't want to the generals to find out their romance so they wouldn't get separated and stationed away from each other.

His heart broke all over again.

A year of work, gone.

Fuck.

He shouldn't have come to the bar - he should have stayed back at HQ and did paperwork like he wanted to do in the first place. A place near Gabriel no longer existed for him, so he shouldn't have bothered trying to see one again. The calm moment in the meeting room together had been a fluke.

"Excuse me." Jack leaped off the bar stool and made a beeline for the door. Bursting out into the cold night air felt like a heaven sent gift, adn all he could do for a few seconds was breathe deeply, nausea roiling deep within his core. 

After a moment of consideration, he slowly slunk his heavy boots towards the into the darkened alleyway between the bar and small, neighboring building. It sat empty, cobblestones beneath his feet, the only light coming from a flickering street lamp in the entrance.

Breathing felt like sucking air through thick syrup and his body felt too cold, too covered in cologne and clothes that did not make him feel comfortable in his own skin anymore, he barely made it to the shadows before his stomach contracted and he vomited up his last drink.

It was hard to tell if the vomit was from drinking on an empty stomach, or just the emotional distress getting to him, but regardless, he emptied the contents again against the cobblestones beneath his feet.

Once he didn't think he could throw up anymore, Jack leaned his forehead against the cool exterior. He should have stayed home. Angela did not need him here.

Shit.

He'd be better off walking home by himself, then.

How far was it back to HQ again?

He drew in the deepest breath manageable, turning back toward the alleyway's face.

A cold, dank sensation crawled up the back of his neck, making panic rise in his throat. Fingertips tingling numb, he pressed his sweating palms against the thighs of his jeans. That's when he heard the footsteps - they sounded heavy- edging towards the corner of the bar.

The alley suddenly seemed like a stretching, horrifying, empty place. He stood, stock still, and stared down the corridor, at the only entryway.

He'd never been afraid before.

He'd never been frightened by anything, not even death.

So why... Why did he feel ice cold tendrils of terror licking at his bare skin? Whilst he stood in the place he felt most comfortable in the world, Overwatch? His home?

It made no sense.

It was stupid, and senseless. A Commander should never fear things. A Commander shouldn't -

A shadow began stretching out across the tiled floors, drawing his attention away from his rising panic. From the oppressive atmosphere suddenly shoving itself down his throat and choking him, depriving him of air and oxygen and anything vital.

Then, the person showed himself.

Walking confidently into view from around the corner, tanned skin looking darker than usual beneath the fluorescent street lighting. He no longer wore his heavy jacket, showing his arms chiseled like a Greek God and covered in more scars than Jack remembered tracing with his fingertips.

The nightmare sensation made a little more sense now, and Jack still couldn't shake it, even as he watched Gabriel run a hand through his hair and across his face. He wasn't scared of Gabriel, no - of course not! He could never feel frightened of Gabriel Reyes, not as long as he... well... He looked like that.

Any fear would quickly be replaced with a hunger and a thirst similar to that of a rabid animal.

Especially in his current state.

Drunk. Horribly, completely, wonderfully... _drunk_.

Jack thought he might faint, as his gaze found itself glued to the figure of the man as he looked around the street, turning in jeans that were far too tight.

When he apparently couldn't find what he had been looking for, he turned and slipped into the darkness of the alleyway as well. Jack must have been far enough into the shadows where Gabriel couldn't see him yet, so he held his breath and watched.

Watched...

Watched as Gabriel slumped his back against the brick wall and tilted his head back until it hit the cold brick exterior. He looked... tired, almost, from his body language.

"Fuck," Gabriel swore, and Jack watched with mute horror as one of his hands reached down and squeezed the crotch of his jeans. His quiet hiss echoed through the alleyway.

Holy _fuck_, what was happening? What was he looking at?

He barely had time to breathe, before Gabriel's restraints apparently snapped and, with the speed of a desperate man, he yanked his jeans open and hastily took his heavy, weighty cock into his hand.

Even whilst relaxed, not yet in its fully glory, the sight was enough to make his mouth water. The fear slowly began receding, as heat built up beneath his skin, spreading across his cheeks and tips of his ears.

Gabriel stroked his hand slowly along his dick.

Had he always been so beautiful? So handsome? So awe striking in his strength and muscles?

His thighs looked thick enough to kick down a door, strong enough to trap him beneath them, holding wherever Gabriel pleased with no hope of escaping, rippling with power each time he moved.

He'd forgotten this particular piece of information. His attraction unlike anything he'd ever witnessed before.

And watching him touch himself in a dark alleyway, outside a bar, thinking he was alone? That was the single sexiest thing Jack had ever, and would ever, see.

He swallowed hard.

Fuck.

Gabriel suddenly growled heartily and slammed his free hand into a fist against the brick wall behind him. "Can't believe this shit!" he snarled. "Fucking God damn Morrison!"

Jack gasped, before he could stop himself, at the mention of his name.

Gabriel paused in his confident strokes, and cocked his head directly toward him.

Rampant fear returned, stronger than ever, mixing with the heady weight of his own interest in the exposed cock before him. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the searing gaze.

His entire body felt aflame.

Then, Gabriel smirked in the dim light, and it was like the entire alleyway burst into a wildfire. Sweat broke out along his skin and slicked his palms, he suddenly felt like prey, trapped in the gaze of a predator ready to devour him whole and drink his blood.

None of his muscles would move no matter how hard he tried, frozen and trapped where he stood. Motionless. At the mercy of Gabriel.

"Jack," came that luscious voice, dark and foreboding like black silk draped across a naked body, and Gabriel turned his body completely towards him and began striding, confident and strong. Still standing tall despite being partially bare.

Jack, meanwhile, felt his own body curl in on itself, attempting to make himself smaller, less room for Gabriel to look at him, to _see_ him, to eat him.

He didn't know how he knew.

He didn't know how his mind came up with the mantra it suddenly began chanting.

But, he wholeheartedly believed it.

_You are so fucked. You are so fucked. You are so fucked._

He was approaching fast now, closing the distance. Jack backed up until his back struck the cold brick exterior, hands flattening themselves against it for some bearing on safety.

"Well, well, well," Gabriel whispered, coming to a stop directly in Jack's personal space. Just inches from him. Jack could smell him, he was so close - like expensive cologne and whiskey. "Look what we have here."

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out - he gaped up at Gabriel like a fish begging for it's life, before he finally croaked out, "What are you doing out here?"

"Came out for fresh air," Gabriel placed a hand against the locker beside Jack's face, blocking him in, and leaned in, audibly sniffing. "Like you, apparently."

He gaped again, could do nothing but huff hot air between them. 

"Are you wearing my cologne?" he whispered.

The closer he leaned in, the more he smelled like whiskey. Jack wondered how much he drank after he left, though logistically, it didn't make sense for how quickly Gabriel followed behind him outside. Did he do about six shots in a matter of minutes?

That sounded like something an angry and cast out Gabriel would do.

His answer, though, started clawing at the back of Jack's mind. The way he'd been looking around for someone, the way he said his name while stroking his own manhood. It reeked of something else.

"Why... why did you really come out here?" Jack placed a hand firmly on Gabriel's chest and tried to push him away, just to put even a small amount of distance between them. "Won't McCree wonder where you went?"

Something strange crossed Gabriel's face, an emotion utterly foreign to Jack. "Had to come out because you ran off," he said in a tight tone. "Believe it or not, I was real worried about you." Rough fingertips, from the hand not pressed against the wall, came to caress the side of Jack's face. "Why do you care about Jesse?"

That voice. That fucking voice. The soundtrack to his fantasies, the soundtrack to his heartbreak. That voice held the power to break him apart and destroy him, build him up and put him on a pedestal. 

Spending time with him in the debriefing room made everything worse.

"I'm fine, Reyes," he lied. Gathering up the strength and nerve of a hardened soldier, he stepped forward and pushed passed the solid mass of man - he felt harder, stronger, bigger. Jack swallowed another wave of sickness rising into the back of his throat and headed out onto the sidewalk, turning in the direction of their hilltop headquarters with determined, if not a little weak and shaking, steps.

All he had to do was make it back, then everything would be alright. The generals would send Blackwatch back out on another mission, and he would be home free. Life would go back to normal. Perhaps he could go another year without seeing that handsome face.

While some part of it missed his face, he also wished he never had to see it again. For his own sanity.

The cold night blistered against his cheeks as he tried to walk quickly down the sidewalk and put distance between them. Silence echoed behind for several steps, two small buildings lengths worth, before he heard boots slapping against concrete.

"Wait!" Gabriel's voice called out. "Jack!"

"No!" he shouted. "Gabe, no!" He dare not turn around, just kept his head down and moved on. "Leave me alone."

But the footsteps pounded behind him, catching up as quickly as he could. Fuck. "What, so... you just don't want to talk to me now?"

"No, I don't."

"You spoke to me just fine a few hours ago."

"I don't care!" Jack whipped around, coming face to face with his pursuer, with his former lover, with the man he thought could have been the love of his life, whom stopped in surprise. Anger flushed through him like a strike of lightning, sizzling through his veins and nerves, until it came bubbling forth from angered lips, manifesting into heated, bitten off shouts. "Gabriel, I'm pissed right now."

Shock flew across handsome features. The irony of that made him want to throw up again.

"Don't tell me you're surprised by that," Jack sighed. "Did you forget what happened? Because I can't forget. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to go to bed and not do this anymore."

He turned to leave again, but a strong hand clasped around his upper arm and yanked him back around - Gabriel's face hovered mere inches from his own. Up until that moment, he'd avoided looking directly at him, not allowing himself to take in the features, the beauty and the familiarity, because he knew it would hurt.

And holy fucking shit, did it hurt.

The pain started somewhere in the cavern of his chest, where it once grew warm with the thought of his lover. The place Gabriel used to inhabit in his heart. An ache beyond words began building in that spot, like a hand clawing its way out, trying to escape. The agony spread up into his throat, choking him, and down into his core, filling him with dread and nausea.

Heartbreak flooded through his fingertips, down his legs, weakened every limb till he thought he'd collapse on the sidewalk. Nothing but a pathetic mess at the feet of the man who he'd been in love with, and whom he destroyed.

Somehow, that made everything worse.

Because he never got to tell him how he felt. He never got the chance to say it, so maybe things would have been different if he'd said those words.

And maybe... maybe that was what all these emotions stemmed from. He hadn't been able to figure out during the last week, no theory making any sense to his rattled brain, but this one - oh, did it make sense. Some part of his brain warned him not to think about it, not to touch it, leave it be. Leave everything as it were and where it had been buried.

However, it may have been too late for that.

"No," Gabriel growled. "Of course I remember. I-"

"What?" Jack cried, and it sounded like a desperate sob, the words he wanted to say so desperately clinging to the edge of his lips. It took every ounce of strength to fight it back, to stay mad and angry. To steel himself against the one person he had loved for his entire life.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay. Liao told me-"

"No." He flung his hand up, as emotion bubbled up dangerously close to the surface. "I know everyone told you what happened, but I'm not... I'm not upset over that, Gabriel. I was the one who made a mistake."

"Then what are you so pissed off about that you can't even look me in the face?" Gabriel's grip moved quickly up his body, fingertips closing around Jack's upper arms. Palms felt warm against his night chilled skin. 

His watery gaze found their way to Gabriel's earnest, but fiery eyes. The furrow of his brow. The curve of his lips and the sharpness of his cheekbones. The unfamiliar facial hair he wanted to touch - was it soft like his hair? Rough like stubble? His bottom lip shined in the light from a flickering streetlamp above them, and Jack wanted to run his tongue along its length, taste him. Replace the emptiness in his heart. 

"I've seen you around headquarters all week, but you look like a ghost. You don't see me, you won't speak to me." Gabriel leaned close, gaze earnest and begging. "I just want to-"

"You're sleeping with him, aren't you?"

The question caused Gabriel to stand in silence for several long, sinking beats. His lips parted on words unspoken, eyes dark with surprise. As if he didn't think Jack would notice. Finally, he did an intake of breath and said softly, "What?"

He wasn't sure what possessed him to say it in the first place, or where the bravery came from, but it felt easier to say than what was truly on his mind. "The teenage cowboy in there," Jack whispered. "I saw it all. I've seen it all week, you know."

Gabriel pressed his lips together.

"You two... are an item?" Jack whispered.

Alas, Gabriel said nothing, just stared at him with unblinking eyes, jaw clenched, a muscle visibly working. The lights casting down from the streetlamps splashed severe shadows across his handsome features, across his nonspeaking mouth, made his profile look dark and dangerous. Jack felt mesmerized by it for a few moments, studying him, waiting for him to speak.

It became apparent very quickly, he was not going to answer the question.

"Answer me," Jack whispered, "or I will leave."

Gabriel blew out a heavy breath, one that smelled like thick whiskey. "Yeah," he finally admitted.

The admission, though it was what he wanted, made Jack feel nauseous. Jesse McCree was handsome as all get-out, young and nubile, with his muscled body and drawling, southern accent that could melt the thickest wall of the heartiest, hardened soldier. There was something about the big belt buckle he wore, the way he looked in his cowboy hat, that even made Jack purse his lips and take a second look. He wasn't sure he could compete with a man like that, especially in bed, so why was he even here?

Why was he even trying?

"It's only physical, though, Jackie."

Jack huffed out a bitter laugh. Like every heartbroken person wanted to hear that. His relationship had only been physical at first, too, but Gabriel Reyes was not the type of person to just fuck and get over. No. Impossible. The fires consumed in a way that would make even the strongest man fall in love and spiral down the dark abyss of affection for this man who fucked and loved like a Greek God.

He felt as though he was teetering on the edge of that abyss, even then, doing nothing more than standing in front of him, fingertips squeezing into his forearms.

"What do you want me to do?" Gabriel whispered.

Carefully, he shrugged out of Gabriel's hands and stepped back. "Nothing!" he pleaded. "I mean, I don't... I don't know, Gabe. I-"

"Can I... Can I ask you something?" A warm, rough hand reached up and laid itself upon his pulse point, enveloping his throat with large, strong fingers. 

"Sure," Jack answered, defeated.

"You don't like seeing me with Jesse, huh?"

Jack shook his head, weakly lifted his shoulders, but did not dare speak aloud.

In the midst of the roaring wind around them, Gabriel's voice was barely audibly as he leaned in. "Is that because you'd rather be in his place? You'd rather be the one I'm fucking again?"

Instead of answering, Jack lowered his gaze away from the searing eyes staring into his very soul. Honestly, he didn't want to admit out loud that, yes, in his current, drunken state, he wanted to be brutally fucked up against a wall, or on the sidewalk, immediately.

A gruff sound left Gabriel's throat and he released Jack's throat in favor of grabbing his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger. Pulling until it edged on the kind of painful that sent tendrils of heat rushing through his cock. "It's your turn to answer me, Jack."

As he leaned closer, the smell of strong whiskey reached his nose again. It immediately sobered him.

That's when his senses returned in a flood. Senses that made him realize he was, in fact, doing something incredibly stupid and reckless and dangerous.

Jack shoved the massive man away with all his strength and stumbled backwards as far as he could. "Fuck you, Gabriel. You're drunk."

He turned on his heel, faced the harsh wind, and began his strides again.

The footsteps didn't follow him this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!!! Next part is VERY NSFW. I know there are a lot of unanswered questions, but everything will be explained in the next chapter. 
> 
> Please, leave kudos and comments, send your love, because writing this made me hate myself just enough to where I think it sounds terrible, but I love each and every one of you who've made it this far! Thank you so much for reading!!!!!
> 
> Please come scream at me on Twitter: [HollyLeighanne.](https://twitter.com/HollyyLeighanne)


	5. Firestarter, Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sin #3: Falling in love with Gabriel Reyes... again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two of the chapter that never ends! I hope this turned out okay, because I once again stared at it until I hated it. Bon appetit. (Next chapter is where shit starts to inch towards getting real and sad.)

**PART TWO**

_I feel it everyday, it's all the same_

_It brings me down, but I'm the one to blame_

_I've tried everything to get away_

_So here I go again_

_Chasing you down again_

_Why do I do this?_

_Over and over, over and over_

_I fall for you_

**January 6th 2051**

**4:45 PM**

Someone shot him the head with a rifle while he slept. Point blank. That was the only explanation. Pressing the barrel against his too hot forehead, they'd blasted his brain out the back of his skull, splattering its remains along his headboard and causing searing, blinding pain behind his eyes. The shivers of pre-death coursed through his body, fingertips shaking and his limbs going limp across the mattress.

He'd never even seen his attacker, or had the chance to open his eyes.

One second he was asleep, the next... 

Gunshot.

Jack gasped, eyes flying open, a scream on the tip of his tongue to alert his teammates of the gunman, but... He found himself staring up at the darkened ceiling of his barracks, faint, dim sunlight streaming through the crack in his curtains - still alive, breathing, and able to move. With a groan, he rolled over and pushed himself up, his stomach sloshing like he'd been through Hell. 

The darkened bedroom around him sat very still and empty, the clothes Angela picked for him discarded on the floor in a heap, his phone face down on the nightstand. Well, it really spoke to his willpower that Gabriel wasn't somewhere in here and he wasn't covered in questionable substances after getting shit faced last night and led to his death on a stake.

Those horrible, vicious words threatened to slip back into his thoughts, but he quickly stamped them down, and dropped his head in his hands and groaned. Mouth dry, fine tremors forming a line down his body - for fuck's sake, how long had been since he was _this_ hungover? He couldn't remember ever feeling this shitty and sick. 

_You also never drank seven glasses of hard alcohol in one hour in a depressive rage._

Ugh. Jack shoved down the nasty little voice in his head and stumbled to his feet, glancing haphazardly towards the clock, which read, in too bright red letters, 4:45 PM, blinking in time with what he realized was his blaring alarm. Which meant he was almost late to see his crew off for the mission. It also meant, he'd slept the entire day away. After returning from the bar last night... his memory grew pretty fuzzy, but he remembered having a hard time falling asleep; it took until six AM before he finally relaxed enough to close his eyes, and luckily, Drunk Jack apparently thought it sound enough to set his alarm for take off time so he wouldn't sleep through it.

Drunk Jack turned out to be much smarter than Sober Jack.

At max speed, albeit on unsteady feet, he flung himself into the nearest uniform he could find, slamming his alarm off in the process, then launched down the hallway and took the steps two at a time. Panic was rising fast and quick across his entire nervous system, choking him - because he hoped they weren't too mad at him. He hoped Reinhardt would't look at him with such disappointment.

He'd be giving himself the worst of it later, so anything the cadets or Reinhardt gave him would just compound that into something terrible.

Toward the end of the staircase, he heard voices gently filling the main hallway. Soft, tired whispers. Worried ones, too.

Screeching around the corner, he found his team standing by the double doors, obviously awaiting the pilot to drop down in front of the building as usual. They were all dressed in their street clothes, as to not raise suspicions of the locals - Jack figured seeing four people running around Overwatch fatigues with giant shields and weapons would definitely worry some locals.

Beside the towering lieutenant figure stood three younger cadets. A tall, slender girl, with bright red hair in a huge, curly ponytail; a smaller girl with dark skin and a shaved head; a young man with almond shaped eyes and lithe muscles.

The four of them glanced up quickly when he came, and he felt a twinge of guilt knowing he looked absolutely disgusting and disheveled and like a crazed maniac, but at least he made it downstairs at all.

Reinhardt hurried over the second he came into view, brow knit together and his mouth a serious, straight line. He crowded into his personal space. "Commander, are you alright? You're late."

He peered up at the towering man, at the fine line of worry and concern in his strong jaw, in the soft gaze that talked him through several nights of paperwork and insomnia. "I'm fine," he assured this man he cared for so much, and glanced around at the cadets. They were watching their conversation intensely, but didn't look particularly concerned about much. "I-"

Reinhardt grabbed his arm and pulled him close, leaning as far down as he could as he dropped his voice to barely above a whisper. "You drank too much last night, didn't you?" 

A knot formed in his stomach. "A little, yes," he admitted, unable to lie to someone who knew the truth anyway.

"Because of Reyes?" 

Jack nodded again.

"Shit," Reinhardt swore, tilting his gaze toward the ceiling for a moment. "We were all worried that was the case." 

The words caught him off guard, because... obviously everyone knew about their relationship, and he shouldn't have been surprised by that, but his chest still tightened with a small amount of panic. His team all picked him up after Gabriel left, yes, but he was never quite sure if they knew the cause of it decisively. Now, though, the truth stared him right in the face.

They all knew, and they all spoke about it amongst each other. It made him feel strange in the pit of his stomach, as he couldn't help but wonder what they'd been whispering to each other over the passed year. He wanted to ask everyone, he wanted to ask Reinhardt right now, but he couldn't bring himself to do more than smile weakly up at Reinhardt.

He released his arm, sighing, meeting his gaze head on again. "Are you... are you okay?"

Guilt washed over him like a tidal wave. This man, about to step out on a mission, cared not for his sake or safety, but for Jack's, and he could see it all over his handsome face. He feared Jack was falling back into the abyss. And he didn't have the heart to tell him, he had one foot off the ledge already. "I'm fine, Reinhardt," he repeated, and it hurt to look him in the eye and lie, but what choice did he have?

Last night had been a fucking shit show. Way worse than even he thought it could be, for both him and Gabriel, apparently. Though hazy, the way Gabriel had been touching himself in the alleyway, and how he became aggressive and forward after drinking too much, it reeked of bad vibes, too. Nothing had gone right. Nothing had been even remotely okay and healthy.

He hated himself for it. He almost hated Gabriel for it, too, for the words he said. The way his lips curled smugly around his words, _do you wish you were the one I was fucking again?_

Yes, the statement might be true, but that gave him no right to speak to Jack that way. He'd felt so sick about the entire thing, he'd returned to HQ and scrubbed his body in the showers until it hurt - _that_ he remembered, because the skin of his arms still felt sore and raw.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I swear on my life." Jack laid a hand upon his massive bicep. The strength beneath his fingers settled him just a small amount.

"Alright, but after I return from Paris, we're going to talk more about this, do you understand?"

"I understand completely." 

The long sigh his lieutenant released felt both relieved and tired, and Jack felt even worse, so, he turned his attention to his cadets to ignore what just happened.

Jack took each of his cadets in with more than a little scrutiny, and assured them of their easy infiltration. They wouldn't need to fight, or even protect themselves all that much; just an easy in and out, and they were back on the plane to return to Overwatch, where they would be safe and congratulated for their hard work. Though the two cadets were nervous, they believed in their Strike Commander. Jack noticed it in the way their shoulders relaxed when he spoke, the way they smiled when he mentioned their bravery.

He gave them each a handshake, before they boarded the airship and took off for their hour long trek to Paris.

Others were starting to wake at this point, the sound of shuffling and doors opening, yawns echoing from the upstairs. Jack quickly excused himself and hid away in the comms room.

This... this was not the day for a mission. Not one where he, the commander needed to be on the comms the entire time. Usually, captains did the lower ranked assignments, Ana sometimes took over for him as second-in-command, but as it was, General Backenridge demanded Jack do it above anyone else, and he simply agreed for the comfort of his cadets. Sekai, Johanna, and Dae Hyun were on their first mission, after all.

His week had been mostly spent scouring over the details. The map was correct, the path very well planned; he'd given a copy to the pilot and to Reinhardt, whom was in charge of the infiltration once they hit the ground. He made sure they had satellite visuals, knew there was no other forces in Paris, as far as the generals told him. He'd done recon, but it turned up nothing. 

All signs pointed to just an easy mission.

Get into that storage facility southbound of the cathedral. Find the paperwork connecting their suspect to the manifesto, and to any of the events lately that may have been his doing. Sources said it was there, and the suspect would not be in town for several weeks. These things were simply word of mouth, though, and Jack felt slightly more anxious about these facts rather than the ones he, himself, figured out and researched.

Thus, a small part of his gut had him worried, but he chalked it up to the stress of the week and placed himself at the communications room center console. This particular spot of the room held all of the most important features and buttons, such as the names of each assigned barracks room and a button for each individual intercom in case of emergency. Jack's eyes glanced over the one still labeled Reyes, even though he'd only slept in it once before being shipped out to Blackwatch. He'd never assigned it to anyone else.

Couldn't bring himself to.

The next screen had the names of all four infiltration participants blinking up at him, meaning their comms and HUDs were online and ready to go. He watched the small microphone symbol spring to life beside their names each time one of them spoke on the plane ride over, but it still took him several moments to place his own device in his ear and switch it on.

Voice sprang to life, vibrant and boisterous.

"Oh, yes, one time Torbjorn and I went on a simple mission, we were both still cadets like you guys," Reinhardt's bemused voice sounded extremely dramatic over the airwaves; he easily pictured him leaning forward, hands out, trying his hardest to tell scary, frightening, soldier stories to see the cadets look up at him in awe. "We thought it would be easy, but then, we were ambushed. Six Omnics attacked us out of nowhere."

The silence from the others on the airship was palpable. None of them dare breathed. Their mics remained silent on Jack's screen, hanging onto Reinhardt's every interesting, intense word. If Reinhardt Wilhelm was anything, it was an amazing story teller.

"Torbjorn was shot in the leg, collapsed to the dirt. Couldn't stand. I got an explosive tossed at me. Shielded just a little too late and got swiped with shrapnel across the cheek and in my shoulder," he continued. "The incendiary burned right through the arm of my uniform - by the way, this is why your uniforms are flame retardant now."

The cadets _ooohh'd_ in appreciation. Jack chuckled quietly to himself - they were actually flame retardant due to that incident, and Torbjorn lighting fire to his entire uniform while fixing equipment in a dry desert, but the former made a much more interesting story.

"So..." one of the cadets, a younger woman with dark skin and bright eyes, named Sekai, asked hesitantly. Her accent sounded thick and distinct. "How did you get out of there?"

"We were saved," Reinhardt answered simply, as if it had been obvious from the start. "We thought we were going to die, because the Omnics weren't supposed to be in that area, you know. Torbjorn couldn't walk, and I wasn't sure how I could carry him with an injured shoulder, while also holding my shield up at the same time. In that moment, in that hot desert, I made my peace, because I knew I would do everything in my power to save my teammate before I worried about myself."

The field medic, a pretty girl with bright red, unruly hair, named Johanna, drew in a sharp breath.

"And just when I thought it was over, here... they... came."

Jack couldn't help the upturn of his lips, as he visualized this day so clearly in his mind. The heat vibrating off the buildings around them, the swirls of sand kicked up in the battle and taken away in a gush of hot, humid wind. He could see the sun illuminating the real hero like a golden halo.

"Who?" the second cadet asked, starstruck. An eighteen-year-old soldier taken right off the battlefield, who asked to be called by his given name - Dae Hyun.

"Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison."

He was being kind, of course, by adding Jack's name in the story at all.

"Gabriel was my original Strike Commander back then, in charge of all of Overwatch, and Jack was number two in command. They flew in and risked their lives and killed every single Omnic around us before I even knew what'd happened. I didn't really realize it until Gabriel grabbed me and asked if I was okay. He was dirty and injured, too, had blood running down his arm, but in that second, looking up at him, he was my hero."

In that second, in that moment, he had been Jack's hero, too. The rest of the team told him he shouldn't go in by himself, because he was their Strike Commander and they needed him, but he did it anyway. _If I die for them, that means I was a good commander._ And Jack had been helpless but to follow along after that proclamation, looking up at Gabriel like a saint. Like an Angel.

He'd always thought of his partner as his own personal hero, but seeing him be the best God damn commander to his name had sparked something deep inside his soul. He knew he wanted to be that kind of hero, too. That kind of leader.

Unfortunately, he didn't think he lived up to it.

Then again, who ever could?

"Jack had been shot in the fight, too. Gabriel patched it up for him on the field, and then Jack carried Torbjorn all the way to safety," Reinhardt laughed heartily here. "He woke up halfway back to base and to this day, he swears an angel saved his life. Reyes always laughs and tells him an angel did save his life, but we all know it was Jack."

Shit.

Jack clutched a hand against his chest, as the cadets silently let all that settle in. He loved that story, every time Reinhardt told it, but this one ached a little more than usual. Stabbed him in the chest a little harder. He used to relish in the thought of Gabriel considering him an angel, and saying so to their teammates, but it brought him no solace today.

"So, I know you're nervous," Reinhardt continued gently, and it felt like he spoke directly to Jack's inner screams, "but you are in the hands of one of the best men I've ever met in my life. All of Overwatch trusts and adores Morrison. He's saved us a thousand times and then some. He will make sure we're okay."

Finally, _finally_, he found the strength to speak up, just because of his helpful words; even a small amount of courage felt like a renewed burst of energy. "Are you trying to scare your new recruits, Reinhardt?"

Reinhardt released a small noise of surprise at the sound of Jack's voice. "No, no, Commander. Just calming their nerves, is all."

"Mm, I see, then you should tell them the story of Watchpoint 7."

The relief was evident in his voice, when Reinhardt spoke again, "Oh, that's a good one!"

**January 6th 2051**

**6:17 PM**

Stories were traded back and forth for the hour long air travel. Jack could tell it obviously calmed the cadets nerves, as they were laughing and asking questions by the time they landed outside Paris, and they sounded disappointed when story time ended.

The plan had been meticulously planned out - they'd drop outside Paris, out of sight of the locals, to avoid suspicion, and walk themselves right into the city like tourists, along the exact path Jack traced out for them. Today was the perfect day, too; after General Backenridge postponed their original, middle-of-the-night infiltration, Jack did as much research as he could and realized Saturday would be the perfect time.

A parade was being thrown in the center of town for the military, the entire day filled with festivities throughout the city. It'd be crowded, teeming with tourists; slipping in and out would be easy and unnoticed. All attention on the parade, no one would think to look two streets over at a storage facility with only one security guard and no surveillance equipment.

Their suspect, also, wouldn't be there. After further research, they narrowed it down to the son of a Toronto politician, a young man whom had been kicked out of law school after he picketed for Omnic relations and caused a scene on campus, resulting in punching out a professor. He'd been on the government's watch list for a while, because of strange things he posted online in the past after his expulsion, but he'd gone quiet and dropped off the radar in the last six months. Then, came the first terrorist attack, a bomb placed outside a government facility that rallied originally for Overwatch to take on the Omnic crisis, then, the manifesto posted online.

It became obvious he'd started some sort of cult for Omnic sympathizers, when outspoken people showed up online, screaming about how he was right, how much they agreed with him. How much of a cult that had become, was definitely unsure.

However, because of his well known name and his father's popularity at the polls, the generals guessed he was laying low and wouldn't be seen at the parade or near the storage facility linked to his name. That's what the anonymous tip referred to, at least.

Liam Gauthier.

Their target.

He found relief in the "lying low" bit.

Listening to the cadets and Reinhardt talk as they disbanded from the airship outside the city, knowing they had about a twenty minute walk before they even hit Paris city limits, Jack booted up the computer sitting beside him on the center console. His e-mail account immediately flooded into view once the bright blue screen bloomed to life.

He'd received _several_ e-mails from various people while he slept the day away like an incompetent fool.

Backenridge. Ana. Commander-in-chief. Emily Sanawitz.

He clicked the first one.

_Morrison,_

_Received intel from intelligence. Mission is a go. Don't forget about your meeting with the Commander-in-chief on Tuesday._

Well, he'd hope so. The intelligence committee agreed to call him the second they thought something might be dangerous in the manifesto, but since he hadn't received any such call while he slept, he figured as much. He ignored that one, moved on to the next.

_I haven't seen you last night, are you alright?_

Ana. Sweet, caring Ana. He quickly replied to her message, assuring her he was okay and had slept too long after last night's bar trip, and he would find her as soon as the infiltration was over. Then, moved on to the next.

_Strike Commander,_

_Call me ASAP. Do not wait._

Jack would call as soon as the mission was over.

This last one, though, struck him as odd. Emily Sanawitz didn't immediately ring a bell as someone he recognized, but he often received e-mails and messages from people deep within the Overwatch and military ranks that knew who to speak to when they needed something.

He booted this message up.

_Dear Strike Commander Morrison,_

_I might get in trouble for this, but I need you to respond to this message. I'm an intern at the intelligence committee. Please respond as soon as possible._

Hmm, that was odd. He'd never spoken to the interns at the intelligence committee; actually, he didn't know there were interns at all. He quickly responded, asking for more information about the problem in question, before settling back into his chair. It couldn't be anything bad, as they would have called them like their deal said, but he figured he would ask regardless.

Reinhardt and the cadets were now talking quietly during their walk, casual. Everyday conversation that had nothing to do with the mission or past missions. In fact... Jack tilted his head, trying to listen a little more carefully. Were they talking about who would cook dinner tonight? It seemed like it, as Johanna said, "I don't know, I kind of hope Captain Amari makes dinner. I've been dreaming of that thing she made last week."

"She said she makes that for her daughter all the time," Sekai replied.

"Oh, yes, Ana is quite the cook," Reinhardt chuckled, and Jack understood the laugh quiet well - Ana had very little kitchen experience and knew how to prepare exactly two dishes; her partner, Sam, was apparently the better cook of the family, and in the past, Gabriel had done nearly 90% of the cooking at any given time, with Ana standing by and asking questions.

"How close are you with Captain Amari?" Dae Hyun asked.

"Very close. The two of us have been working together for years now."

"Really? I see you two talking all the time-"

Jack pursed his lips, laughing to himself as he refreshed his e-mail page. The fact that other members of Overwatch had similar strange love connections, that they ultimately kept secret, brought him the smallest amount of solace. Reinhardt and Ana held themselves so well and poised, no one would ever know they'd slept together in a hush-hush manner on and off for years, despite Ana still being in a partnership with Fareeha's father.

Everyone in HQ knew about it, and had seen them whispering quietly to each other in the golden morning sun, huddled together in the common room, and then they'd avoid each other for a few days. Before that moment, Jack really hadn't compared it to his own situation, because they seemed far more healthy in their situation rather than whatever the Hell he and Gabriel had going on.

Thinking about it now, though, hungover, tired, and all around stressed out from the entire week, it didn't seem that different.

It explained why Reinhardt always wanted to talk to him about his heartbreak, and gave such good, earnest advice.

He heard Reinhardt's hesitant noises over the comm, before Johanna interrupted him. "Hey! Look! It's the parade starting line!"

"Oohhh, are those food trucks over there?" Dae Hyun piped up.

"Commander, would it be unprofessional to buy lavender lemonade on a mission?" It sounded like Sekai clapped her hands together.

"Of course not," Jack laughed. "Relax for a second, you got a little time before the parade starts, don't you?"

He listened to the sounds of the crowd chattering around them. It sounded extremely busy and bustling, as he guessed it would be after researching previous parade years; they were talking in hushed tones about the menu in front of them, discussing what drink they wanted, if anyone wanted sandwiches, cookies, or whatnot. Reinhardt was quietly whispering about all this being food for a tiny little rabbit and how he wished they had beer.

He'd drank just as much as the next person last night at the bar, if Jack's memory served correctly, and yet he felt he could drink more? Perhaps Jack was just weak.

_I wonder how Gabriel is feeling this morning._

The voice whispered almost inaudibly in the back of his brain, and he winced.

He'd been quite inebriated in that alleyway last night and smelled like whiskey, his drink of choice. In their history, he couldn't quite remember him ever being hungover, but he also couldn't remember Gabriel being drunk enough to whip his dick out in a public place, and then say horrible things like he did last night. Shoving himself in Jack's face. Insulting him.

He still saw the way his lips curled smugly around the words. _"Do you wish you were the one I was fucking again?"_

Jack's heart dropped deep into his stomach. Gabriel had never said anything like that to him before. He'd always been respectful of their relationship and their time in bed together, had only showered him in the utmost considerate manner. It made him wonder what on Earth had happened yesterday, or during the last year, to make him say something like that.

He'd seemed fine in the debriefing room. Just like himself.

Had the drinks tipped him over the edge?

Probably, Jack thought, refreshing his e-mail page again.

"Hey, Commander Morrison," Dae Hyun spoke up.

Thank God. That pulled him from his thought and he sat up further in his chair, straightening his back. "Yes?"

"You, Gabriel, and Ana used to do a ton of missions together, right?"

"Yes. We were the original three Overwatch members, you know," he explained, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling above him. Fluorescent lights and security cameras stared down at him, blinking little red lights. "We spent years together, on the battlefield."

"Really?" Dae Hyun whistled. "So, my question is this. Did you three ever do dumb stuff during missions? Like order cookies from a foodtruck?"

"Oh, of course we did!" So many times, he'd found himself laughing, covered in blood, leaning against Gabriel, while they ate food in the dining room of a restaurant. The other patrons looked strangely at them, but the chef was always immensely thankful for their work in saving their business not five minutes ago. He held those memories very close to his heart sometimes, when he needed to think of better days. 

He hummed, happily. "We were stationed in South America for a couple years, and during every moment of downtime, Gabriel made all three of us eat at the same place and order the same thing. Churros."

Ana and himself had been sick of them by the end of the 100th time, but seeing Gabriel's happy face, sitting around a darkened table, shoving churros in his mouth made them keep coming back. Jack would've done it a million more times just to see him smile again.

He'd do anything to see that again, too.

"Mmm, that's pretty surprising," Johanna said.

"Why's that?" Reinhardt asked.

"Well, Commander Reyes hardly seems like the kind of guy to do something as cute as that," she replied.

"Oh, yeah, he seems super tough and gruff. Unapproachable," Dae Hyun agreed.

Reinhardt snickered quietly under his breath.

And Jack just stared at the screen in front of him, and he felt hesitant to reply to anything to this conversation, as he didn't think he'd be a reliable witness to this. So, he refreshed the page again.

In bright, bold letters, Emily Sanawitz flashed across the screen again.

He jumped at the chance to click on it.

_Strike Commander,_

_Did General Backenridge tell you what the intel found? He intercepted our message as we were sending it to you._

Intercepted the message? That didn't sound like typical protocol. He typed his response quickly.

_Emily,_

_Yes, he informed me nothing was found by the intel and I could proceed with the mission._

"Commander Morrison, is Reyes as scary as he seems?" Sekai asked.

Shit. Jack leaned in as he sent off his e-mail, and carefully considered his words. "Uh. W-well-" Was Gabriel scary? Oh. Scarier than any of them thought. Similar to a wildfire burning closer and closer to the doorway of your home, while you watch it from the window and hope it doesn't consume you.

Scariest of all was when the fire did reach and it consumed its victim, but you didn't care, you just let yourself burn in the hot fires, comfortable in the pain and the sweltering, black out heat of it all.

Jack swallowed hard, his mouth filling with saliva. "He's... Reyes is-"

The sound of everyone happily yelling their orders to the foodtruck interrupted his answer, giving him enough time to catch his breath, and to wipe away the picture of Gabriel's thick cock cast in shadows by the dim streetlamp overhead. He closed his eyes and willed that away as much as he could, until he heard the sounds of his team slurping and chewing loudly in the comms.

"He seems like the kind of guy who screams at cadets," Dae Hyun piped up, finally, smacking their lips together. "I can't imagine how he treats that McCree kid."

Like a splash of ice water, that sobered him more than anything that'd happened so far. "No, no, of course not!" he blurted out. "Gabriel is sweet! He's... he's-"

Suddenly, cheering and roaring erupted through the comms, drowning out his frantic voice - thankfully, before he talked himself into a hole he couldn't explain later.

"Whoa, what is that?" Reinhardt asked.

"It must be the start of the parade, right?" Sekai suggested.

"Why's it so loud?" Johanna raised her voice over the tenor of the noise.

"That means we should start moving toward the storage unit, right?"

"Yes. Let's move."

Thankfully, Reinhardt took over and instructed everyone where to go in the loud rush. The strange raucous roaring continued, echoing through all three comms until the audio clipped - he flipped his volume down several notches to a bearable level, and let Reinhardt discuss their next moves. He knew what to do after their debriefing together, and he trusted him to do the right thing.

So, he relaxed, relieved he didn't need to talk about Gabriel anymore, and turned back to his computer screen. Another e-mail had popped up from Sanawitz. He took a deep breath and clicked on it.

_Strike Commander,_

_I knew it! He intercepted our message to you and chose not to tell you the truth! Commander, you have to call off your mission immediately!_

His heart leaped up into his throat, nearly choking back his oxygen as he read those words.

**What? Why? Respond immediately!** he sent back.

He leaned close to his screen now, unsure if the roaring in his ears was white noise or the crowd around his team. Backenridge said nothing about bad results from the intel committee. Backenridge said the mission had been fine and ready to go, safe as ever. Perfectly normal. So what had the intelligence facility found? What would it have to do with Paris?

Their suspect was supposedly lying low to stay out of the public's eye, as to not bother his father's polls.

And he and Gabriel read the manifesto! There had been no mentions of Paris! Or France, at all! Why would he perform an attack where his own storage facility sat? Places that could be traced back to him?

He refreshed his page several times, but no new messages appeared.

As panic began rising in the back of his throat, he heard Reinhardt's voice crackle in his ear. "Look, you can see the cathedral from here-"

"Reinhardt!" he shouted, interrupting and launching himself to his feet. "Stop what you're doing! Don't go any further!"

"What? The cathedral is just up the street, though," Reinhardt said. "The storage building is close by to that, right?"

"Yes, but-"

His screen lit up. Another e-mail. He abandoned his words and clicked on it in haste, his heart pounding five times harder than it should've been.

_We figured out where the next attack will be. "Bending for the masses, three times an acclaimed man." We thought it was a statue, but it's not! It means the cathedral! He was talking about the three famous coronations that took place there, where the public celebrated outside. Henry VI, Napoleon I, and Louis XV! The ones that are depicted in the old paintings after the revival!_

Bended knee.

Coronations.

Flashes of those paintings whisked through his brain, of brightly colored royal robes and garments, bended at the knee to take the crown upon their heads. After it had been revived over a decade ago, they strung up original paintings they found hidden somewhere in the building's depths. Everyone knew about the three most famous coronations in the history of the cathedral.

How had he never figured it out?

"Hey, what's going on over there?" Johanna split through his thoughts.

"Are they... are people runni-"

An explosion blasted through the comms, the audio clipped and whirred and filled with static, along with the sounds of screams. Hundreds of screams, including from his team. They arched into his ear so loudly, he thought his eardrums may have ruptured and were bleeding, but he dare not remove it from his ear. Panic rose in his throat like bile, choking him, as he tried to scream out to his team.

"What happened, Reinhardt?"

Static screeched back at him. Nothing but white noise and the vague sense of screams in the background - or was that just more static? He could hardly tell. "Reinhardt!" he shouted again.

But there came no answer.

His gaze rushed across all the screens blinking brightly up at him, desperate, trying to find something to help him. Something that could help his team. His own computer, no. The comms screen showed microphones all screaming noise, but not anything he needed to hear - obviously glitched by the sound of the explosion. The only thing for him to do was to press the reset button and wait for them to boot back up, which took at least two entire minutes. Something that scared the shit out of him.

Anything could happen in two minutes.

He slammed the button.

What would be the prognosis when he finally heard Reinhardt on the other side? Had they all made it out safely? How would his team make it back to the airship during this terrible rush of panicked bodies and law enforcement?

He glanced at the map laid out on table's corner. Stared at the bright red lines he'd drawn on it.

How had they expected him to do this alone? This was not a normal mission. He should've had Ana with him, or... Or...

Then, his gaze shot to the control panel for the barracks intercoms.

The number of Gabriel's room stared at him. His finger itched, his hand ached. He heard his own voice in his head, echoing, _"If I was ever in trouble, I would call Gabriel._ He needed help. He'd never needed more help in his entire life than this one, small moment.

After several moments, he slammed it, and when it crackled alive and he heard Gabriel's voice shout out over the intercom, _"Jack, what's wrong?"_ He knew he'd done the right thing.

"I need your help-"

Before he could even tell him what was happening, he heard the bedroom door slammed closed. He was coming. That was all that mattered.

Now, he just had to wait for the comms to come back online. The timer blinking on screen read 1:25. One minute and twenty five seconds. One entire minute... Shit.

Jack placed his hands atop the table and closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose. Adrenaline and panic rushed through him in such a tidal wave, he couldn't bring himself to form a coherent thought about how they ended up here. Sure, he'd seen missions go very badly when he was on the front lines, but in the last year of being commander, he'd never put his team in danger. He'd never had a mission go awry, and had certainly never put his team in danger because he blindly believed everything would go fine.

Just because the general told him so.

What was wrong with him? Had he truly gone insane because of Gabriel? Had he lost sight of whom he was as a commander and a leader? He'd let everyone he loved down.

And for what?

A pretty boy?

When the door burst open beside him, Jack felt on the verge of tears. The screen read 40 seconds.

He jerked up to his full height and swiveled to look at Gabriel.

Gabriel still wore his lounge clothes, naked to the waist except a pair of sweatpants, hair mussed from relaxing in bed. Jack barely had time to appreciate the sight before he was rushing toward him, grabbing Jack's face in either hand, crowding in his space with too much warmth, "What's wrong? What happened?"

His deep, calming voice struck him in the center of his chest. "Gauthier exploded the cathedral while Reinhardt and the others were just a street away from it," Jack whispered. "I think, at least. The comms went down, I had to reset them." He gestured vaguely at the screen, unsure of the number now on it. 

Gabriel released him and moved quickly toward the screen, shoving a comm in his ear - his own comm. He must've brought it from his bedroom, and Jack moved to his side, feeling the weight of the world in his shoulders. 

3...

2...

1...

Noise burst into his ear once again, clear. There was still screaming. What sounded like wind whipping around them. He heard Reinhardt's voice shouting something loudly, but he didn't hear the rest of the cadets or the medic, but thank God, he finally heard a familiar voice again. 

"Reinhardt!" he yelled. "The comms are back online!"

"Fucking thank all the Gods," Reinhardt gasped, obviously breathless. 

"What's the situation?" Gabriel asked, leaning both hands on the tabletop. Authority sang through his tone. Rough and strong, and able to handle things when Jack felt close to falling apart. He'd always been that way. So reliable.

"The cathedral was attacked. People are panicking. Police are swarming. We've been shoved into a deadend alleyway," Reinhardt blew out a loud breath. "Sekai's ears are ringing, she took out her comm. Johanna is trying to check her out-"

"Is that Commander Reyes?" Dae Hyun asked, voice very soft compared to his uproarious opinions earlier. 

"Yes, it's Reyes and Morrison. They're going to help us," Reinhardt assured gently, caring like an elder brother. "Won't you?"

"That's what I'm here for." Gabriel grabbed the map from the table's edge and yanked it towards him. "Alright, can you tell me where you are exactly? What do you see around you?"

"Uh, we ended up on the neighboring street from the parade," came the quick answer. "We're in front of some... bakery, I think. And a bank?"

Jack watched Gabriel place a finger on their exact location. Quite a long bit away from their original position, apparently pushed there by the panicked throngs of people. "Rein, do you see the street ahead of you? Between the bank and the clothing store?"

"Uh, yes, I think I do."

"And can everyone move?"

There was a pause, in which Reinhardt was obviously looking at his team and wondering the same question. "I - I think so."

"Take the cadets there, then. As fast as you can!" Gabriel placed a hand over his microphone, and glanced at Jack. "Tell Rodriguez to head back to the exact same dropoff location."

Scrambling for the radio signal to the aircraft, he did as he was told, dialing her particular number in and connecting it to the rest of the team's frequency. 

Her gentle voice crackled to life amidst Gabriel talking Reinhardt through the process of getting through town unseen and safe. "Hey, Commander. What happened?"

"The team will fill you in once they're on board, but we need you to head back to the original dropoff point. Can you do that?"

"Yes, of course. I'll be there soon, team." She whistled out a loud noise. "It's chaos everywhere I look from up here, even this far out from Paris."

Her voice trailed off after that, the cadets and Gabriel taking it over with their frantic conversation to one another. Jack swallowed hard as he listened to them, at the sounds of the screaming and chaos in the background, and at the sound of his own team, the panic in their voices, and the heavy gasps of breath from adrenaline and running.

"Are we going to be okay, Commander Reyes?" Johanna whispered.

Jack, himself, wondered if he would be okay after this as well. He'd had several missions go terribly before, but it had always been with people who were reliable and had been trained for quite some time under Gabriel's scrutiny, people who he felt ready to go on the front lines. And, typically, they were going on missions in already dangerous areas - it felt completely different than this occurrence.

He'd never had something like this happen. A general lying to him and putting his cadets in danger. Sending his cadets into a 100% safe place, not a war zone, and having them in the line of danger. This had turned into an unprecedented event.

"Of course you are. Morrison and I won't let anything happen to you." Gabriel's voice dropped to a gentle hum, so soft, no one on the other side would be able to tell he'd shoved away from the table and was now pacing at a very quick gait around the communication's room, hands clenched into fists at either side of his body. A fine line of tension was shaking through his muscles.

Jack knew how he felt. His own body had clenched at the first sound of the explosion, and had yet to relax enough to release his muscles. Every inch of him shook with the strain.

"Are you guys making it to the dropoff?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes," Reinhardt answered.

"Okay, tell me the second you make it." Gabriel stopped pacing and turned his attention toward Jack, pinning him down with his gaze. The expression on his face looked unreadable, a mask hiding so many things. A handsome, awe-inspiring mask.

His face gave him an eerie sense of calm, despite the echoes of police sirens and terror in the background of his comm. An ocean washed over him, chanting the quiet mantra _everything is okay, everything will be okay._ And he wholeheartedly believed it.

_If I ever needed help, I would call Gabriel immediately._

Reinhardt's voice came through. "We made it-"

"I see your position!" Rodriguez cried out. "Stay still and I will drop right on you."

"Good work, team," Gabriel whispered, and his gaze remained unwavering from Jack's own, paralyzing him where he stood. He felt like a victim staring into Medusa's gaze. "Morrison and I have some calls to make, we'll touch base with you when you make it back to HQ. Okay?"

A chorus of excited thank yous echoed back to them, relieved and happy, but were cutoff when Gabriel leaned sideways, reaching an arm out, and flicked off the communications switch. The screen went dark, the sirens and talking silenced in his ears.

Jack carefully removed his earpiece, meeting Gabriel's fiery, serious gaze, as he followed suit.

The air between them felt as thick as the air seconds before a tornado hit. Dangerous, electricity crackling on the edges of the horizon. The storm could be heard miles away, distantly, but here, between them, stood an eerie calm. The eye of the storm floated gently overhead, so silent and so calm as imminent death and destruction lingered on the outskirts of the room.

And Gabriel leaped forward first, bringing the storm with him.

Even if he argued about it years afterwards, _he_ made the first move that day.

With no regard for the security cameras capturing their every touch, Gabriel made the first move. Like a wildfire, he devoured him. Hands grabbed at his face, rough fingertips stroking along his jawline, and hot lips consumed his mouth, sucking and licking and exploring. Gabriel's kisses were always breathtaking, sucking the soul right out of him until he could only melt in the strong hands holding his together whilst he felt like falling apart.

He heard himself whimpering pathetically, as Gabriel's experienced tongue lavished his own, twirling around the tip before diving further in. He tasted him, in every sense of the word. Devoured him, until Jack felt the desperation in the movements and all at once, understood.

Jack knew why this was happening.

The relief of saving their team.

The adrenaline of another close call.

It was just like their time on the front lines. They'd ended up like this so often, tangled desperately in each other's embrace, it became the usual, expected even! Something about the _thank God, we're alive. Our team is alive! We made it to see another day!_ feeling, resulted in the same response each and every time. Sexual rushes. Frantic hands. Kisses that tasted like blood.

How long had it been?

Gabriel broke the kiss, chest heaving, lips glistening wet in the fluorescent lights. Jack's heart pounded so hard against his ribcage, he felt it in his fingertips and throat, so much so, he could barely catch his breath as he stared across the way at the man who'd just kissed him stupid - and whom now was just staring back at him, silent, eyes completely blown black with lust.

A blush had bloomed across the tips of Gabriel's ears.

He wanted to kiss him again, he thought, his hangover whipping away into the wind of their storm. He wanted to kiss that blush, his neck, his collarbone, his jaw - before sucking on his bottom lip and drooling at his taste. The fucking thought had his balls aching painfully in his uniform pants, begging to be touched and released and stroked to completion.

Yet, Gabriel made no move.

"Gabe?" he heard his own voice over the blood roaring in his ears.

"I - I'm sorry, Jack," Gabriel finally whispered. "I shouldn't have said what I did last night-"

"Oh, fuck, shut up," Jack blurted out, frantic. He didn't want Gabriel to stop kissing him, ever. Not when he felt like this. Not when they'd just saved their team from imminent death. Not when his cock was so hard, it probably wasn't healthy. "It's true, Gabe. It's all true."

_Do you wish you were the one I was fucking again?_

Yes. 

A million times yes.

Especially when Gabriel had run to his side to help him without a second thought, and the rush of adrenaline at being together again, saving lives, working as a team, felt the same intoxicating way it had always felt. In fact, it may have felt even better than before, because they had been through new things together now, compared to when they were on the frontlines.

Heartbreak, for one.

Jealousy and yearning, for another.

"You..." Gabriel's tongue darted out and licked across his own bottom lip, looking entranced, and Jack's gaze followed it, watching him lick up the remains of their wet, messy kiss. "You want... _me_ to fuck you again?"

An eek slipped from his open mouth, one that sounded vaguely like a sobbing yes. One he had no control over.

Hands curled into fists at Gabriel's side, Jack watched the movement, wondering, if he'd actually make another move or say something else. Or would this devolve into another terrible situation, like at the bar? The pause between them lasted so long, Jack thought he might be pushed away and left any second now, and the thought of watching Gabriel turn his back on him for a second time made his aching erection flag a moment.

He didn't know what he'd do if he made his admission and got rejected, while they were both sober.

But, then, at long last, Gabriel released a loud, shaking breath. He released his tight hold on him and stepped back, waving toward the ground. "On your knees, then, Jack."

Jack's body responded far quicker than his brain, the hard coldness of the floor seeping into his uniform pants immediately, fists bunching in the fabric until it felt as though his nails would splinter from their base with the force of it.

Heat gathered in spades in the center of his crotch. There was nothing he could do to stop it.

How would he explain the dirt on his knees if he ran into someone in the hallway? 

Fuck, he couldn't bring himself to care, not while Gabriel had a strong hand squeezing the erection, now standing proudly before Jack's face through the thin fabric of his sweatpants, as he stared down at him. His large, thick, dark cock, every curve visible to Jack's wandering eye. He knew it like the back of his hand. The thought of holding it, tasting it, still made his mouth water.

Shit.

He swallowed hard, mouth wet and begging to drop open and be fucked through. He wanted his throat to ache from the fucking for days.

"Oh, Jackie." Gabriel's free hand reached down and caressed the side of his face, warm and rough and everything familiar he wished he could forget, but he leaned into it anyway, feeling his resolve slipping away like so much ash at his feet.

Though he wasn't sure he had much resolve to lose.

Not with Gabriel, at least.

Never with Gabriel.

"Wanna know why I really came chasing after you last night?"

Jack quietly nodded, still melting into his touch.

"'Cause... I missed you."

That... that was not what he was expecting. The words made him jerk his head upwards, breaking contact with that strong and large hand, so he could stare, bewildered and wide eyed, up at a dark gaze that pinned him where he crouched. Unable to move. At his mercy.

Somehow, Gabriel was wearing nothing but pajama pants, and yet Jack felt like the most naked and exposed person in the room.

"You missed me?" Jack finally choked out.

"Course I did. You think I could make it a year without my pretty boy?"

A whine escaped his throat. How long had it been since he'd heard that? How long had it been since he fantasized about being called that again, in the darkness, or in the shower, desperate to touch himself to the thought of a gruff voice worshiping him and lapping at him with compliments and praises.

Two months ago, he thought blearily.

He never allowed himself the sick pleasure of grabbing his aching dick, though. He denied himself every time, assuring his desperate brain that it was unhealthy to fantasize over something that'd never happen again. This went on for the entire year, until Jack thought he'd go crazy from the sheer lack of an orgasm. Going from sex every very frequently since the enhancement program, to not even touching himself for twelve months...

It definitely didn't feel good.

"Mmm, you miss me, too, right?" Gabriel whispered, moving his hand from Jack's jaw to catch his chin between strong, rough fingertips. Those fingers caught his bottom lip and pulled, edging just on the side of painful that had Jack's previously flagging erection shooting upwards in a white hot renewal of energy. "Did you miss being on your knees for me?"

Jack almost cried.

But, then, Gabriel lifted a bare foot and gently... gently... pressed it firmly against Jack's straining cock.

Jack did cry, then. Tears rolled hotly down his cheeks and neck, collecting in the collar of his shirt and commander jacket.

A year without Gabriel had been hard. 

A year without Gabriel, but with the memory of their last moments together were even worse.

Like smoke. Like a spreading fire far more out of control than anything, and Jack wanted to let himself burn in it. Eat him alive. Swallow him whole. He missed how it felt to scorch himself, breathe that black, acrid smoke into his lungs until it was inside his entire body in a way he could never wash out. Not again.

It was toxic and unhealthy. He told his cadets to avoid things like this and always get yourself out of a bad situation, where you were not the one with the upperhand, and yet, he ignored everything he said to anyone else with no avid concern about his own health.

He wasn't sure he ever had the upperhand.

The strong foot pressed hard, stomping down until a wave of pleasure rushed up his spine in a chill. Warmth gathered in his core as his balls tightened painfully, as his cock screamed for release - finally, finally, it so badly wanted to cum again and again and again, until he had nothing left to give.

"Fuck!" he sobbed. "Gabe, please-"

"What?" Gabriel all but growled, showing teeth and malice and _oh dear God, how could one person be so fucking hot?_ "Tell me what you fucking want and I'll do it, Jack. I'll do it."

Time stopped.

Reality altered.

Jack's entire existence up until that moment in his adult life screeched to a halt and flitted out of permanence. Slowly, on shaking legs, he rose up onto his knees, pushing away Gabriel's foot, and leaned forward, until Gabriel's fabric covered cock bumped hotly against his desperate lips. 

Suddenly, things felt like the first night they spent together. Time and space no longer mattered, and Jack found himself floating in a place where only Gabriel Reyes held any power. The HQ didn't matter, his team, the rest of Overwatch.

If they saw him, they would be ashamed after he'd come so far.

Angela and Liao may cheer, but Ana would weep. Sojourn would take him to the side and demand to know what the fuck happened, after they pulled him out of his depression - only for him to go leaping back in with both feet?

But, alas, he couldn't bring himself to care. Maybe tomorrow morning when the hangover and adrenaline left his system, when the world looked clearer, when the last year of self hatred and shadows weren't bearing down on his shoulders, screaming and begging for Gabriel to fuck him until they all went away.

The times they spent together swirled around him like a vortex. The happiness. The deep, all consuming lust. The wildfire love.

He could never let anyone find out whatever was about to happen.

Shaking fingertips grabbed the waistband of his sweatpants and pulled, allowing the heavy cock to spring to freedom, before bowing under it's own unbelievable weight.

Because, even as the words left his mouth, he felt no small amount of guilt and shame at his actions.

"I want you," Jack whispered, and opened his mouth, taking Gabriel's full, thick manhood between his lips and across his salivating tongue. It tasted the same. Felt the same. He nearly wept at the familiar slide of this huge cock down his throat, slotting into place like it belonged there and nowhere else.

Above him, Gabriel hissed through clenched teeth, still leaning over him with one hand now braced against the tabletop, knuckles white from the grip. Towering. Tall. Foreboding. Dangerous.

And everything that made Jack's dick ache with need.

"What the _fuck_, Jack," he swore. "That didn't really answer my question."

Reluctantly, he pulled off, but kept his lips ever so slightly touching the warm, velvety crown. "I want you to fuck me, Gabe," he admitted. Out in the air. In the middle of them.

After a year.

He'd said it.

"I want you to fuck me like you did on our first night together," he whispered, and pressed a kiss to the hot, flushed crown, slicking his lips with the wetness of arousal gathering there. Something about their first night always stuck out to Jack in a hazy, dreamlike sort of state. They hadn't known each other. There hadn't been any messy, emotional problems, no heartbreak. They weren't bloodied and saving the world yet. Scarred and traumatized.

Just two men, fucking in the heat of the moment, too turned on to care about anything else.

It had been one of the best nights of his life, changing everything forever.

"Our first night, eh? Good choice." Gabriel's hand tangled itself into Jack's hair, longer than the last time he'd pulled it. Long enough for him to yank his head back and away from the lucious cock, forcing him to look directly up at him; Jack whined at the loss of that heady taste, the slick of pre-cum.

He wanted it again, but Gabriel was staring down at him now, towering over him, and speaking, and he couldn't tear his eyes away enough to argue. "I prefer Egypt, 2045."

"Why - why that one?" Jack stammered.

"Mmm, because you were begging me," he hummed. "You were covered in blood. Dirty. You'd just saved the entire village, so wound up on adrenaline and heroics, you begged me to take you in the dirt three times before we ever made it back to camp, and I did. I was tired, I was hurt, but I fucking did anyway, just because you asked me to, and by God, I knew, I would do anything for you that day-"

A growl ripped from his chest and in a swift movement, Gabriel forced his head back into its original position and shoved his cock completely down Jack's willing and waiting throat. It came as such a surprise, he found himself gasping and moaning around the thick intrusion, and it was everything he'd wanted for so long. "You were begging me, thinking I was the one with all the power over you, but fucking shit, Jack! I was at your mercy!"

Jack wanted to ask what the fuck was happening, the strange spewing of truth putting a small damper on his sexual haze, but couldn't do more than garble and make blabbering, desperate noises around his cock. Drool dripped down his chin, his eyes filled with tears all over again, and his hands flung up to grab at Gabriel's meaty thighs, scrambling for purchase.

"I couldn't say no when you asked with those big fucking blue eyes. Couldn't say no when you licked the blood and dirt off my fingers and bent over right between two houses. We could've been caught. Could've been thrown out of Overwatch, but did you care? No. You wanted my cock so badly, you were willing to risk everything just to get it. And then, when I thought you were finally done, you begged me to cum on that pretty face."

His cock was edging on painful now, an enticing twinge that made Jack's own erection twitch inside the tight confines of his pants. Long enough to slip passed his hesitant gag reflex and down his throat, thick enough to ache his jaw and stretch everything as it pounded in and out, taking his breath away.

"That's what I missed the most about you, ya know, pretty boy. Honesty. Filthy fucking honesty. I craved hearing it again-"

Gabriel slammed his bare foot down against Jack's erection for the second time that night. This time, though, Jack, whom hadn't been touched by another person, let alone himself, in an entire year, came on the spot.

His body convulsed through an orgasm so strong, his vision whited out. His nails raked bloody trails down Gabriel's thick thighs.

Gabriel laughed, a sound like thick, dark honey being dropped into the sweetest tea imaginable. Jack almost came again, just at the sound. Just at the thought of being with him again, even if only for one night - before he returned to bitter reality and Gabriel returned to his cowboy.

The same hand in his hair gripped tighter than before and yanked him up off the ground. "You really came that quick?"

His legs felt like jello. He could barely stand in his uniform now dirty and soaking wet inside; the thick fabric clung to his bare skin.

"Sorry," he whispered, voice fucked out and rasping. "It's been... a while."

Gabriel tilted his head, dark, steamy gaze searching across his face. "You haven't had sex since..."

Jack carefully shook his head, once, twice. _That_ felt embarrassing. 

The fingers in his hair tightened just slightly. "How long has it been since you jerked off?"

"Ni-" His throat argued against speaking, rasping harshly. "Nine months."

Gabriel leaned in close, hot breath ghosting over the shell of Jack's blushing ear. "Why haven't you been taking care of yourself?"

"I couldn't stop thinking about you," he admitted. "I couldn't keep masturbating to the thought of you. It wasn't healthy."

"Oh, Jack." He sounded enraptured now. Soft and silken. The hand in his hair relaxed and caressed the side of his face, fingertips running along his cheek and jawline. "Is your room in the same place?"

"Yes."

Gabriel gently grabbed his hand, after pulling his sweatpants up, and led him from the communications room. His manhood still stood huge and erect, bobbing heavily in his sweatpants in the empty halls. The sight of it had Jack's dick tingling with interest again. The thought of release after so long had him ready to burst all over again. And God damn, he wanted to finish what he started. He wanted Gabriel to shoot his load down his throat, and he so desperately wanted to swallow and taste every bit of it until his thirst had been sated for another nine months.

By the time they made it up the staircase and down the empty hallway roaring with silence, his erection had returned almost fully - and when Gabriel pushed open his bedroom door, locked it behind them, and shoved Jack toward the bed, a wave of pleasure washed over him so heartily, he nearly cried.

And Gabriel had the horrible audacity to look right at him, with luscious, dark eyes, and whisper, _"Get on the bed."_

He obeyed without a second thought, placing himself on the edge of his mattress, still unmade from the rush this morning.

Gabriel hesitated in front of the doorway for a moment, gaze flickering around the stark and boring bedroom around him. Following their breakup, Jack hid away everything that reminded him of Gabriel in his one small closet, in a box he didn't have to look at - he felt sure this was what Gabriel was looking for, but if it was, he didn't say anything and eventually dropped to his knees in front of him.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Jack demanded. "I want you to-"

"No way," Gabriel breathed. "You need this more than me."

Jack gulped harshly. "What do you mean by that?"

Dark, hazy eyes met his own, snatching his breath away completely. "I kept thinking of you." Gabriel made quick work of his button fly and pulled his uniform down in one easy swoop. Jack felt his cock fling upward and smack against his stomach, hard yet again, throbbing and heavy, because the implications of that one statement rushed through him. Every bit of blood flooded from his brain and into his cock until his vision nearly whited out.

He kept thinking about him? Even while they were apart? Even while Gabriel probably spent most of his time seducing people several times more attractive than a little white-bred boy from Indiana?

He barely had time to regain his wits, before Gabriel swallowed his dick down into his wet, warm, hot mouth.

"Wait-" Jack cried, slamming his hands against Gabriel's shoulders, fingernails clawing against tanned skin. "Wait, Gabe, I want you to fuck me, please-"

Gabriel peered up at him, tongue running expertly around Jack's crown, and shook his head from side to side. His eyes looked like black pits as they watched him from below, strong, thick hands holding both thighs to keep him from moving even a small amount.

Jack's lips parted, desperate to ask why in the ever living shit he wasn't getting railed right now while he was pliant and hungover and willing, but Gabriel must have seen his defiance.

Because he set out to shut up Jack Morrison completely.

That white hot wetness slipped down his entire length, until his nose settled into Jack's messy blonde curls. His breath tickled the delicate skin there, and Jack felt his heart pounding against his ribcage.

No matter how many times he watched Reyes go down on him, it always amazed how magical and breathtaking and downright sinful it looked, the way he acted like it was the best fucking thing he had ever done. 

Jack's own erection was not nearly as large as Gabriel's impressively daunting length and girth, as Gabriel easily took the entire cock in his mouth, but no one would be able to tell from the way he moaned around it. The way he tried to choke himself on it, shoving it deeper and deeper, the crown bumping the back of his throat on each quick, experienced, easy pass.

His sounds were pleased and ecstatic, vibrations from the depths of his throat shooting through Jack's spine like an electric shock, making his toes curl as trapped moans and painfully heavy breaths rumbled behind gritted teeth. They filled the silent room around them, the only sound in the entire HQ. If anyone walked in, coming back from the bar, they'd be able to hear him.

He slapped a hand over his own mouth, tossing his head back, as one of Gabriel's hands came up to cup and massage his balls.

Breath halted in his lungs. Gabriel continued deepthroating him at a break neck speed, his tongue licking underneath his crown, then pressing flat along the underside. Wet and sloppy, the sounds of his sucking filled the quiet room around them in the most obscene and vulgar and _sexy_ display, that had hotness rearing up again way too fast. 

A twist of his hand, a moan from deep in Gabriel's chest, and Jack exploded for the second time that night, shooting his spend down Gabriel's throat. And he swallowed every last bit of it, continuing to suck and bob until his cock twitched pathetically with just a few last drops. As he pulled off, Jack watched with horror as he dipped his head a little lower to lick a few stray drips of seed that had spilled from his lips, right off his knuckles.

His soul left his fucking body, and he collapsed backwards onto his bed, his entire body throbbing through his last moments on this Earthly plain. He barely had the strength to even open his eyes to see what Gabriel was doing, when he heard and felt movement between his legs. No, all he could do was lay, trying to catch his breath.

Because holy shit. _Holy shit!_ What just happened?

Whilst the haze of lust began finally fading, he had no idea what had just happened. He couldn't believe it.

He wondered, perhaps, if this was all a wet dream?

After a few moments, he felt hands gently tapping him on the cheek. 

"Hey, you still with me?" a gruff voice asked.

"Mmm," he hummed. "Kind of."

"Well, wake up for a second. Something just occurred to me."

Jack managed to open one eye, seeing Gabriel standing in front of him, cock still hard and untouched through his sweatpants, arms crossed over his chest in the way he did while lost in thought. "What occurred to you?"

"How did today happen?" His tone had gone from worshiping, to dead serious in a matter of seconds. Of course, he hadn't just had two of the best orgasms in his entire life in the span of five minutes, so he wasn't feeling like a zombie atop the bed.

"What'ya mean?"

"The mission today. How... how did it go so wrong?"

Ice rushed through his veins.

Jack's eyes flew open and he bolted upright. Holy shit, he'd forgotten. He'd forgotten what Emily Sanawitz said in her e-mail. "Oh, fuck!" he swore, and at record speed, he leaped to his feet; his vision blurred for a moment at the sudden movement and he stumbled over his half on, half off pants, but he blindly scrambled for his phone in his uniform pocket.

"Uh, what?" he heard Gabriel's voice.

He tapped his phone quickly, waiting for it to light up. "Right before the bomb went off at the cathedral, I got a message from the intelligence committee." 

"And?"

"They knew where the next attack would be, but apparently Backenridge put them on lockdown and let me send out the team without knowing the truth."

Gabriel arms slowly fell to his sides. "What?"

He moved his gaze towards him, feeling nauseous. "I don't even know what to do," he admitted. "Backenridge knew. He almost got our team killed."

The look on Gabriel's face was of quiet resolve, brow furrowed, lips a straight, serious line. He tapped a bare foot on the floor for a moment, glancing down, before reaching a hand out, palm open. "Can I see your phone for a second?"

"Uh, yea-"

Gabriel grabbed it gently from his palm before he could finish speaking, and began tapping numbers quickly in. Jack had no sight on what he was doing, but he soon heard ringing sounds - two of them, and a gruff old man's voice snapping through the receiver, now on speaker.

"What, Commander Morrison?" 

Backenridge.

Uh oh.

Jack reached out in an attempt to take his phone back so he could handle things himself, but Gabriel put a strong hand on his chest and stopped him, not even warranting him a look or an explanation. Instead, his voice remained even and calm as he spoke.

"No, this is Reyes."

"Oh, hello, Reyes," Backenridge sighed, and rustling sounded through the phone. "What can I do for you?"

"I have a question." 

More sighing. "And what would that be, Reyes? I don't exactly have all day free-"

"Who lied to Commander Morrison?" Gabriel all but growled. "You almost cost us our cadets, and Lieutenant Wilhelm! I demand to know who fucked up!"

The rustling paused on the other side. Jack thought he heard some sort of beeping in the background, and some cars rushing by an open window. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Reyes."

"No, you fucking lied about the severity of this mission. You intercepted results from the intelligence team and didn't warn Jack!" Gabriel was frothing now, slamming his hand down on the nightstand, knocking his alarm clock over; Jack had never seen him so angry before. 

It was... almost unsettling, in a way.

"Alright, but it's just your word against mine, Reyes," Backenridge finally said. "You know how that will go."

A click, then silence. Backenridge hung up, leaving an angry gaze staring down at the black phone screen.

The fine tension shaking through Gabriel's form reminded him of the night they broke up, when Gabriel punched him. His anger had been just as palpable, his hurt, his heartbreak... Jack swallowed hard, feeling nauseous.

What the fuck was he doing? 

Was he getting involved in this again? Was he...

Gabriel twisted around and shoved him back on the bed with all his strength, tossing his phone somewhere across the room. He fell to the mattress in surprise, and before he said one single word of argument, lips began peppering kisses along Jack's thighs and softened cock.

He almost fainted, but instead, he steeled himself and watched. Watched him kiss the head of his cock, now slowly coming to life again by some fucking miracle. Watched him peek up at him, smirking, so laid back and practiced - not at all rusty in his movements. Jack knew he couldn't take all of Gabriel's dick like he used to, completely out of practice after a year of celibacy. 

Without a shadow of a doubt, he knew Gabriel had probably continued having sexual relations with whomever he wanted - man or woman - during their year apart. It definitely hurt to think about, but it also made him want to ask questions.

The previous thought of their break up, his anger, his practiced movements. All these things swirled together and culminated into so many questions, they spilled forth. Against his better judgment, he heard himself speaking. "Did you... did you keep thinking of me while you were having sex with other people?"

Gabriel's eyebrows spiked, surprised, pausing with his tongue pressed against Jack's leaking slit.

Immediately, he wanted to backpedal and not say anything, suck his words back into his lungs and keep them there, safe and sound. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that-"

Gabriel slipped off his dick with a pornographic pop. "Jack-"

He knew this was a bad idea. "Actually, wait - wait-" Jack grabbed either side of Gabriel's face and shook his head repeatedly. "I _don't_... want to know, Gabriel. I can't know."

His gaze softened into golden pools, regarding him with such passionate affection, Jack felt faint in their midst. "You don't understand-"

Panic rose quickly. "No, you can't tell me that, either. Please, Gabe."

Gabriel's hands, draped around Jack's quivering thighs, squeezed tightly, fingertips indenting the milky surface. "I won't say anything, Jackie."

"I - I just don't want either of us to be hurt again." He stroked a thumb across his rough facial hair. "I almost didn't survive losing you the first time."

"Then..." Gabriel pursed his lips. "How about... we just keep it like this? Physical? Neither of us can get hurt that way, right?"

"Alright," Jack whispered. "Promise?"

"I hear you," Gabriel said, a hint of shadows in his gaze, swirling beneath the surface like a funnel cloud.

After Gabriel sucked him to completion again, his legs barely had the strength to carry him when Rodriguez brought the team back to HQ safe and sound, and he rushed down to greet them, open arms and tears burning behind his eyes. The cadets collapsed in their barracks almost immediately after, dead asleep, and Reinhardt wandered off to find Ana, he said.

Alone again, Gabriel grabbed his hand and led him back up to his bedroom, where he pulled Jack into bed, wrapped his arms around him, and curled him close, near instantly falling asleep against his back.

**January 7th 2051**

**6:30 AM**

When Jack awoke, his bed had become cold and empty. No signs of Gabriel ever having been there except the smell of his designer cologne soaked into his sheets and pillowcases. As the sun bled through closed curtains and painted the room in golden streaks of glitter, he pressed his face into the pillow beside him and drew in that scent for as long as he could.

After a while, he'd have to face Overwatch and Blackwatch again. Go out into a world where Gabriel existed beyond his reach, with Jesse McCree and his own team, away from his bed and his love and his touch. Last night had been everything, but a cathartic release of anger and closure, no. It was not.

It possibly made everything that much worse, especially after making him promise something as stupid as keeping it physical and nothing else. What on Earth had he been thinking?

Because just the smell of his cologne made tears burn unbidden behind his eyes. That now too familiar, painful ache reared its ugly head again, consuming him. The pillow case smelled so much like Gabriel, it hurt. Like smoke and musk, Dior cologne and strawberry shampoo, and that damn coconut product he insisted on styling his hair with. 

He couldn't remember what Indiana smelled like - maybe farmlands and cows and diesel.

But Gabriel Reyes smelled like home now.

An hour passed before he mustered the strength to leave the bed, and only then because he wanted to make breakfast for the team. Staying in his pajamas, he padded down the staircase, breathing deeply, hyping himself up to face everyone. They'd have questions, of course - where had he gone the other night at the bar? Where was he all day yesterday? Was he alright? Did he see Gabriel with Jesse?

What happened with the mission yesterday?

He'd have to hold a meeting about that last part, and he wasn't looking forward to it; he couldn't think of a single word to describe accurately what happened yesterday, and how he'd handle it after this. He'd have to speak with his team about it first, before bringing it to everyone else, of course - but first, before he entered Hell, breakfast was an easy first step.

He came to a stop outside the kitchen door, one hand pressed against it as he drew in a sharp breath.

Voices flitted out, softly, from the small crack he made.

Pushing open the swinging door, the smell of something sweet hit his senses, followed by the sound of laughter he recognized as Ana's. This calmed him exponentially; if the first face he saw after the last two disastrous days was Ana Amari, things might not be so terrible.

Smiling, he stepped inside-

And stopped dead in his tracks.

Gabriel and Ana stood by the stove, as he rounded the corner, shoulders touching as they flipped something in twin pans, the glow of the sun casting them in warm, filtered light. Ana wore a set of floral, silk pajamas and a big sweater, while Gabriel wore a pair of sweatpants Jack had never seen before, which were almost too tight on his thighs, and a tank top. Leaving nothing to the imagination. The curves of his muscles looked so much larger, his bottoms conformed tightly to his ass, the round curve, the tight musculature. 

His mouth began salivating.

And not from the smell of breakfast.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Ana turned, hair wild and unkempt from sleep. Her gaze brightened immediately at the sight of Jack.

"We made breakfast!" Gabriel called, happily, turning as well. The line of his girthy cock could be seen through the thin, gray fabric. "You hungry, Jackie?"

A disturbing chill flitted through his stomach. For a moment, a fleeting second, everything felt normal again, back to the days on the battlefield when he would awaken and see his lover with their team, and that sight could bring love, warmth, affection to his soul. A family environment in the most unlikely of places he'd dream of bringing back years afterwards.

Those memories still kept him warm on his darkest nights.

Their time in the debriefing room yesterday felt the same way. What the fuck was that about? Did his brain hate him that much?

"Yeah," he breathed, lying. "Yeah, I'm hungry."

"Then sit down, Commander. I got this."

Jack's entire body went rigid. A year. He'd been commander for a year and had never heard Gabriel call him as such. The words did something to him, feeling as though a hand grabbed him by the dick and squeezed until heat built, rising into his cheeks.

Stiffly, he moved over to the table on legs that didn't want to work and sat down, pulling his robe tightly around his lap as to not give himself away. The last thing he wanted was for Ana to see his hard erection at six AM.

Hell, the last thing he wanted was for this to currently be happening. 

Ana clapped her small hands together and turned around, a huge smile as bright as the sun written along her face - obviously enjoying this brief familiarty and love as much as himself; it was easy to forget how much Ana had lost in their breakup as well. They'd been the original three. They'd done so much together and built such a familial relationship, that when Gabriel left and they no longer spoke, Ana had lost one of her best friends, too. Jack forgot about that very often, but this morning, it became obvious. "Alright," she said, "I'm going to wake up the others for pancakes!"

Her light footsteps barely made a creak as she rushed from the room, the double doors swinging loudly behind her as she disappeared.

And Gabriel sat a plate in front of him, having apparently been right on Ana's heels as she walked away from the stove.

Jack kept his eyes down and stared at the plate of three pancakes high. Whipped cream, handmade, berries scattered around the top -

In the shape of a heart.

Jack blinked wearily at the plate. Nearly unseeing, or perhaps imagining things. The same guy who held him down and face fucked him... now constructing a heart out of blueberries. The whole scenario struck him as so strange, he found himself giggling in the early morning quiet.

He must've been losing his mind.

Warmth gathered at his side, as Gabriel crouched and leaned over his shoulder. Lips brushed the shell of his ear, sending tingles down his spine. "What's so funny, pretty boy?"

Fondly, his anxiety lifting just a little, he glanced at his handsome face. It was almost too much to handle first thing in the morning, like staring into the sun straight on after spending all day in a darkened movie theater. "Nothing," he whispered. "Just your heart here."

Gabriel clicked his tongue. "What's funny about it?"

What wasn't so funny about it? "Very uncharacteristic of Gabriel Reyes, you know."

"I thought I'd treat you like a good boy after yesterday." He pressed a kiss to his ear, a very gentle brush of warmth.

Jack wanted to turn and kiss his lips, let him know he still tasted like him. While last night hadn't exactly been cathartic, it had been everything he wanted, so therapeutic that made his passed year of pain heal enough to a reasonable level. Something he'd live with, as long as he could possibly touch his skin every once in a while, taste his breath, and get fucked until nothing mattered anymore.

Seeing Gabriel Reyes on his knees for him, sucking his dick and swallowing his spend, was enough to make any man weak and want more.

"So," Gabriel interrupted his thoughts, tapping his fingers along Jack's knee as he came around the chair and crouched on his knees in front of him. "You... you really didn't sleep with anyone else?"

"Of course not," Jack huffed.

"I just find it hard to believe. You're so..." He waved his hands in front of Jack's face vaguely. "You look like you stepped off a vintage GQ cover."

"Never," he whispered, and turned his head - their noses bumped. Gabriel's expression looked like brimstone and fireworks, and he wanted to ask how many vintage GQ magazines he'd been reading during his Deadlock stakeout, but instead... "I'll be yours till the day I die."

With a hiss from gritted teeth, Gabriel captured his lips in a fiery rush. Distantly, Jack swore he could hear snaps of electricity crackling around them, raising hairs on his arms and neck, as a confident tongue plunged its way into his mouth and tasted all over again, as if he hadn't done so last night. He ravaged and pillaged, tasting him so thoroughly, it made him dizzy.

And apparently his partner felt the same way, as a low moan reverberated against his lips. 

Fuck, that was hot, when Gabriel thought he tasted so good, he couldn't stay quiet.

He wanted to hear more.

Turning in his chair, he slotted himself between Gabriel's legs and slipped his arms around his neck, pulling him close for more, kissing him harder and trying his hardest to pillage and taste on his own. This new facial hair rubbed harshly against his skin, and he knew it would be evident what they were doing when Ana took one look at swollen lips and a pink chin.

But Jack wanted the team to know.

On some sick, disturbing level, he wanted word to get back to Jesse. The kid hadn't done anything and he seemed perfectly sweet and lovable, but someone needed to warn him what he was getting into. This toxic environment. This place of sin where Jack Morrison wanted to shield himself from heartbreak, but also craved to keep Gabriel to himself. Never let anyone else have him, experience him, love him.

He knew this to be a disgusting mindset, he knew everyone would be ashamed.

Yet he couldn't stop it.

When the kiss broke, Gabriel swore, low and dangerous. "Can I take you to bed later?"

"Mm, fuck, yeah." He wasn't entirely sure he meant to say that, but he no longer had any control. "I'll make you forget about that cowboy."

Gabriel smirked, shooting fire through Jack's existence. "What cowboy?" And he lurched forward, kissing him again.

Heaven descended from the skies and settled atop his shoulders like two fluttering angel wings.

For a total of two seconds.

As soon as a tongue slipped across his lip, they heard loud talking echoing off the hallway walls. The quiet of the kitchen felt thick and awkward, so they yanked away, and Gabriel rushed back to the oven.

Jack turned in his chair and just stared at his pancakes, the melting whipped cream, the heart on top. The elusive hiding of their relationship had a certain allure to it when he was younger, but he didn't feel the same rush anymore - he didn't want to stop just because he heard their team coming close.

"Good morning, Commander!" The doors slapped as they opened, and the southern drawl of that innocent Blackwatch cadet filled the kitchen. Though he was the strike commander, he knew he was not talking to him, but rather, the new commander of his puppy love.

Jack glanced over his shoulders as Jesse walked quietly over to Gabriel's side, by the stove, wearing pajamas that looked far too large for him. He realized a beat later, they were suspiciously similar to pajamas he'd seen Gabriel wearing before.

A small tinge of pain struck through his heart, but that was stupid, so he buried it down.

"Hey, McCree," Gabriel eventually answered, not turning from his pancake station.

"Where were ya last night?" Jesse leaned closer, bumping Gabriel's shoulder. "Thought you were comin' to my room."

"Fell asleep."

Movement crowding all around him blotted out the sounds of their private conversation. His team and their vibrant morning discussions circled around the table in a thick rush, pushing in on him and his chair. He heard several greetings from the men, then Torbjorn and Reinhardt moved to sit at the end of the table, whilst Ana ran to help Gabriel at the stove again, shewing McCree away.

Angela, however, came up behind him and flung her arms around his neck and chair. "Morning, Jack."

"Morning, Angela."

"Where'd you disappear to the other day? You left the bar and I didn't even see you yesterday?" She let go of him and plopped down in the chair beside him. "Got worried about you."

"Uh, I just came back to my room." Jack moved to grab his fork, even though there were so many things he wanted to say to her, to tell her. About the mission. About Reinhardt. About...

Well, about what happened after she got him drunk.

Her expression suddenly changed, a she took in a deep breath. Brow furrowed, lips purse. "You..." she leaned closer, dropping her voice to a whisper. "You were with Gabriel, weren't you?"

"How in the Hell do you do that?" Jack hissed. His gaze darted around to the others at the table, but none of them were paying any mind to their whispers. Thankfully.

"It's a gift, and also, you _literally_ smell like his cologne." Angela's entire face screwed up and scrunched into a disgusted expression, as she audibly sniffed. "What happened?"

"I ran into him after the bar," he whispered. "And then some things happened yesterday, and I kind of... blacked out."

Her eyes grew wider than dinner plates. "Wait, did you have sex with him?" she hissed shrilly.

Haha. Oh, boy. "Not... not exactly-"

"Oh, God." Angela dropped her head in her hands, obviously fully aware of what Jack meant by that.

"I know!" Jack hissed. "I fucked up." _And I'd do it again. And again. Over and over. He would make the same mistake a million times, if it meant being held by Gabriel for just a moment longer._

Of course, he would rather drop dead right then and there than tell anyone that out loud.

"It's... it's okay." Angela rubbed a hand along his shoulder. "I did lead you to him like a lamb for slaughter."

"It would've happened anyway," Jack whispered, forcing himself to pick up his fork and cut haphazardly at the stack of pancakes. "You weren't around for the two of us together, but... it... probably would have happened, even if I stayed home from the bar."

"Really?" Angela's pretty features collapsed with relief. "You think so?"

"Oh, I'd put money on it." He sighed and shoved a large bite into his mouth. Immediately, his heart clenched, and he thought he might keel over dead right in front of everyone. 

One time, years ago, when they were still learning things about each other, Jack mentioned how his mother made pancakes. Her recipe was strange, because she always zested oranges into the batter and added too much cinnamon. They'd never had enough downtime for him to cook them this way, and he'd forgotten about them as time stretched on.

Yet, here they were, sitting right in front of him. They tasted just like this mother used to make.

Home flooded through his blood like an injection, and he glanced carefully at Gabriel, still handing off double stacks to everyone who came near him, smiling up a storm.

Even if Angela hadn't set the wheels in motion by taking him to the bar, something would've happened between them. No matter what.

**January 7th 2051**

**12 PM**

Around noon, after he'd showered and braced himself for his duties as a commander, he, Reinhardt, and Gabriel called Ana and Soujorn into the debriefing room and told them in detail what happened during the terrorist attack, and also filled everyone in on the issue with Backenridge and the intel committee. Everyone felt pure outrage and betrayal, of course, but he asked how they felt about telling everyone this information.

They agreed they should tell them at least what the cadets went through yesterday, but they should probably keep the Backenridge situation a secret, as to not cause a complete panic amongst Overwatch. 

Jack agreed, and did just that in a large meeting with everyone in HQ. It was a somber two hours, in which everyone asked questions, there was a lot of silence. None, however, as bad as Sekai, Dae Hyun, and Johanna. He asked to speak to them privately after the meeting, to see what they wanted to do now. Sekai cried and asked about the discharge process, citing what could be extensive damage to her hearing. Johanna agreed with the medical assessment, and wanted to speak about being stationed in a facility permanently, rather than on the field. Dae Hyun remained resolute and wanted to continue being a soldier.

He hugged all three of them and promised he would do everything he could until they felt better, and he would get their paperwork ready by tomorrow.

His emotions grew following this, as he watched Dae Hyun hold Sekai's hand and lead her back to her room. His anger, sadness. The devastation that two bright futures were stamped out by the gross negligence of a man he once trusted as a general. He felt close to rage by the time he tramped up the stairs to grab his belongings from his barracks to begin work.

Of course, that didn't last long when he opened the door and found Gabriel standing in the middle of his room, still wearing his uniform, arms crossed over his chest. This time, Jack made the first move, his anger for others bubbling over as he launched himself at the wall of a man, wrapping his arms around him and begging to be devoured.

Gabriel just smirked and gave him no such satisfaction. Instead, demanding Jack get on his knees in front of him, which he, of course, obeyed.

He jerked off inches from Jack's face, releasing his spend across his lips and chin.

It wasn't exactly what he wanted, but he'd take it, for the sole taste of his strong seed on his tongue. He licked what little he could reach with fervor, moaning and wishing he'd released directly in his mouth so he could have every last drop of that lifeline.

Wobbling to his feet, wiping himself off with a dirty t-shirt left on the floor, he attempted to excuse himself to go work downstairs, but Gabriel grabbed him by the arm and yanked him back, devouring his mouth and kissing him absolutely breathless. Weak and helpless, he let Gabriel shove him back onto the bed and swallow his hard dick down for the fourth time in two days.

Eventually, with tears stinging the corners of his eyes, he asked, "Why don't you just fuck me like I want?"

Gabriel just smirked up at him, licking cum off his lips. "We'll get there, baby."

**January 25th 2051**

**8:10 PM**

The term "living in sin" never meant much to Jack. He found the implications stupid, as sins were incredibly subjective and he'd never been much for religion. When people said it in regards to non-married couples living together, he scoffed, because the people of small towns were close-minded and ridiculously dumb, and they wouldn't know a real bad thing if it smacked them in the face.

Besides, if they really wanted to see it, they should just peek at the last week in the Overwatch HQ.

It had become a den of immorality. 

The whole situation started on Monday, after Gabriel sucked him dry following the meeting, and everyone went down for dinner. Jesse stuck to Gabriel like glue for a while, Angela and Ana milling around Jack, but eventually, Jack had to leave to finish the paperwork he didn't have time to do yesterday, because he'd be writing the results from the mission fiasco for hours. So he stole away to the meeting room where he knew no one else would interrupt him and dove back into his work. He barely noticed when the door opened, just grunted out a, "What can I help you with?" 

No answer came, and he'd looked up just in time to see Gabriel striding towards him in his Blackwatch uniform. He opened his mouth to ask what he was doing, but was interrupted by strong arms lifting him out of his chair and dumping him onto the meeting table. In a whirlwind, Gabriel stripped his pants off and fingered him, pounding into him harshly, stretching and fucking him out, until he came, untouched, all over himself. Then, he left.

On Tuesday, Jack almost forgot what happened after a long day of meetings and conversations with the commander-in-chief and a couple generals who were not Backenridge; he'd been on the phone, or on comms with them, almost all day. During a moment of down time, where two generals were talking with each other and had forgotten about him, Jack felt something bump his leg. Being the only one in the room, he glanced down, cursing the entire time about it being a mouse - only to find Gabriel standing beside his chair, erection pulled from his uniform, lazily stroking it while watching Jack work. He'd lifted his finger to his lips in a sign for Jack to keep quiet and not say anything, because he was still on comms, and holy fuck! Could he be more evil? It'd been near impossible to focus on the mundane words coming through his earpiece, seeing his hand move up and down that thick length from the corner of his eye, getting off on just watching him do nothing.

The act nearly killed him. He could barely answer the questions coming through every once in a while, as he moved closer, Gabriel's hand speeding up just inches from his face. Eventually, the commander-in-chief said something and it took a solid ten seconds before he responded, and when his brain caught up, he rushed out a breathless answer that made Gabriel nudge his cock against his cheek and whisper _"You better pay attention, Commander."_ Jack thought he may have blacked out for a second hearing those words, but he didn't have time to really worry about it, because then, a hand was on his chair, turning it towards Gabriel. He sidled up close, placing each of his legs on either side of Jack's closed ones, squaring him in so he had nowhere to escape. 

The other voices were trying to ask him about what they could've done to better prepare for the failed mission, and what their next steps were, and the only thing Jack could think about was how absolutely delicious Gabriel's cock would taste, and how much better this meeting would be if he could suck it and talk at the same time. It'd be a little muffled, but he'd think much clearer.

Maybe.

When he said "open", Jack did it without question. Gabriel stroked himself to completion with the crown of his cock pressed between willing lips, his seed spilling over Jack's tongue hot and heavy. And Jack swallowed every bit of it, after he'd been craving it for two days straight. 

Gabriel left again right after that, leaving Jack hard, panting, and swearing Gabriel Reyes was trying to kill him. 

On Wednesday, every movement nearby made Jack jerk and jump, dick ready to get hard in a moment's notice. Nothing happened for most of the day, as Blackwatch was having meetings about their next mission in a couple weeks, so, after catching back up with his cadets and busying himself around the HQ for most of the day, Jack eventually relaxed enough to shower by himself in the quiet of the evening. Of course, he shouldn't have let his guard down, because he heard quick footsteps hurrying towards him in the silence of the bathroom after he was already covered in bodywash, hair spiked up with shampoo. Gabriel forced him up against the shower wall and bent over, leaving him completely exposed.

And, by God, Gabriel dropped onto his knees on the wet tiled floor and _ate him out_. Rimmed him. Plunged his tongue deep into every part of his inner walls until Jack was sobbing, dick so painfully hard, he had no idea what to do with himself except fist his own cock and drive himself to completion. It was the hardest orgasm in his entire life, somehow harder than the ones Gabriel gave him earlier in the week, and his legs gave out underneath him afterwards, plopping onto the shower stall floor. Gabriel, who had been jerking himself off, shot his spend across Jack's face. 

This time, though, he didn't leave, and instead washed him. With hands that felt loving and gentle, soft and tender, he scrubbed Jack's hair, massaging, lathered his body and rubbed knots and scars. Lavished him with affection. Kisses pressed to nearly every inch of skin, embraces beneath the sprays of water. Seeing Gabriel's hair dark and wet pressed against his forehead, his muscles slick, made something clench deep in his chest he couldn't think about.

Not yet.

The Overwatch and Blackwatch teams banned together on Thursday to go out on the town, despite the drizzle descending from gray skies, to restaurants and bars. Jack stayed back at the HQ in his bedroom, napping, because he couldn't remember the last day he had off to just relax. Of course, Gabriel stayed behind as well and curled up in bed with him, holding him. They napped on and off for hours together, fully clothed, behind locked doors, Gabriel holding him close and snug against his chest.

Underneath the blankets together, listening to rain pattering against the windowpanes, Gabriel shifted against him, sighing softly, and pressed a sleepy kiss to the back of his head -

But, then, Gabriel's phone started ringing loudly on the desk. It'd been Jesse at the bar and Jack could hear every word being said between them.

_"Gabe, what'cha doin'?_

_"Jesse? Uh, I'm napping."_

_"Oh, sorry. Was juss thinkin' 'bout you-"_

_"McCree, are you drunk?_

_"Maybe, but... I miss you. I wanna come home to-"_

Gabriel launched himself out of bed, then, and excused himself out the door to finish the conversation.

A strange pain filled Jack's core, knocking the breath out of him. He'd pretty much forgotten about Gabriel's... _relationship_ with Jesse McCree, so wrapped up in their deplorable yo-yo of x-rated office ventures and soft, affectionate moments, he barely saw any of the Blackwatch team members. He'd completely forgotten Gabriel didn't belong to him in the way he remembered.

He'd let himself spiral into an abyss. The breakup and heartache of the passed year disappeared since he returned from his mission.

That's when the horrific truth struck him.

He was falling in love with Gabriel all over again.

Terrified, horrified, embarrassed, the next few days, he made sure to stay far away from Gabriel until he got his thoughts collected. He'd made Gabriel promise it would only be physical, but he had made no such promise to himself - he'd messed up. When he said as much to Angela and told her what transpired the last few days, she agreed to stay at his side at all times to keep the ravenous Commander Reyes at bay.

It seemed to work at first. Monday and Tuesday passed with no strange happenings; Gabriel spoke to him briefly, asking him what he was doing, if they could talk later, but Jack gave him nothing beyond a brief glance and short answers, while Angela hovered between them with crossed arms and a tilted, beautiful, but challenging expression on her face. Which Gabriel glanced at quickly, then decided against saying anything and left.

Wednesday, Gabriel tried to stop him in the halls before he had to go train new recruits for Blackwatch, but Jack shrugged him off as best he could, just smiling and quickly rushing off with Ana at his side, yelling about how his work was never done. Ana just glanced up at him, a furrow to her brow, but said nothing - like she understood what was going on.

Thursday, Jack spent the entire day, hidden away, finishing the paperwork for Sekai and Johanna. Gabriel didn't attempt to find him.

Finally, Friday came again, and he felt mentally and physically drained. For some reason, perhaps because the universe hated him, avoiding Gabriel throughout the entirety of HQ felt far worse on his psyche than being fucked by surprise every day. Maybe it was sidestepping the elephant in the room, maybe it was feeling the expectations of his ex-lover filling the area like an atom bomb each time he grew near him - and then having to smile, wave, and walk away.

It basically sucked.

He'd almost finished the process for Sekai's discharge, and had been discussing what Angela thought would be the best facility for Johanna to station at, so he'd easily blame it on being far too busy to continue with their rendezvous for a moment, but it made the situation no less painful.

Jack sighed, as he opened the meeting room door - and ran face first into a massive, hulking chest. Stunned, he stumbled backward, as a large hand closed around his arm to steady him, and he found himself staring up into the disappointed and fatherly looking face of Reinhardt Wilhlem. His brow a firm line, his mouth mimicking the same.

Uh oh.

"Hello, Commander Morrison," he said, voice low, but deep and as serious as a heart attack. "Are you free for a moment?"

"Yes." He honestly had no choice but to agree. Avoiding the man he'd been fucking was one thing, but he couldn't avoid his trusted teammates. 

"Good!" He pulled him from the doorway and hustled him into the hallway's corner, tucked between the staircase leading up to the common rooms, and the staircase leading down to the basement training area. No one would be able to hear their conversation here, which did not bode well for whatever the large man wanted to discuss with him.

Though Jack had a sneaking suspicion...

Reinhardt leaned his shoulder against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest, pinning Jack with his soft gaze. Jack followed suit, opting for leaning his entire back against the wall beside him, so he could lower his gaze to the floor beneath them. 

"So, remember when I said I wanted to discuss some things with you after I returned from Paris?"

He nodded, just as he'd suspected.

"Well, I spoke to Ana this morning over breakfast, and she told me something rather interesting," Reinhardt began. "You and Gabriel are, uh... what is that American saying? Looking away from the mammoth?"

Jack couldn't help but laugh lowly. "Avoiding the elephant in the room," he supplied, kicking the toe of his boot against the shining tiled floor. 

"Yes, that is it!" Reinhardt snapped his fingers. "Avoiding the elephant! So, tell me, why have you been doing this?"

"I don't-"

"I've seen the two of you together this week, talking," he interrupted. "You looked okay. What happened?"

Jack pursed his lips and fisted his hands at his side, as he looked up at Reinardt, tilting his head back against the wall. He looked down at him with such an earnest look on his face, he couldn't bare feeding him some bullshit lie, when all this man wanted to do was talk to him and make him feel better, be his friend and be there for him. He knew his team supported him in anything he chose to do, deep down, and maybe that's why he opened his mouth and told the truth.

For God and Reinhardt and the universe to hear.

"I'm scared."

Eyebrows rose into fading blonde bangs, twinged with streaks of white. "Scared? Scared of what? Scared of Reyes?"

He huffed another small laugh, shaking his head rapidly. "No, not... not _of_ Gabe, but... more..."

Below, the sound of a door screeching open loudly interrupted Jack; voices and very loud conversations flooded forth from the stairwell, footsteps pounding quick, echoing throughout the hallways. Reinhardt glanced up, as Jack tilted his head toward the staircase opening in time to see several cadets wearing work out gear come pouring forth through the archway.

They were covered in sweat, hair sticking to their foreheads, shirts clinging to finely tuned bodies. Women and men both, wearing basketball shorts and leggings, waving hands in front of their faces and downing bottles of water, walked right passed them as they shouted a litany of jumbled words to one another. None of them paid them much mind, as they moved toward the staircase leading up to the next floor.

It was a rather large group. So large, Jack almost didn't notice the center of attention, being shoved towards the staircase, too.

Dark skin and wide shoulders, black tank top clinging to a tight core, black gym shorts clinging a little harshly to the curves and peaks of a sculpted and beautiful ass. Sweat had yet to be wiped off his glistening arms, as he patted a towel across his forehead, and nodded seriously at something someone was saying. Jack couldn't tell what they were saying, all of it sounding like so much white noise.

Jesse McCree stood at Gabriel's side, in a t-shirt and cotton basketball shorts that showed off his slim, but strong legs. His long, messy hair had been pushed back by what appeared to be a pink headband.

Shit, he thought, as Reinhardt blew out a breath beside him. Shit, shit, and more shit.

Gabriel's gaze darted up and met his, and he screeched to a sudden halt. McCree and the rest of the group stumbled in trying to stop with him, some of them bumping into each other in surprise, but Gabriel's expression screamed a thousand things at once. A thousand things in another language that Jack didn't seem to understand, because he couldn't make out a single word.

"Jack," he whispered, draping his towel over his shoulder. 

The talking silenced like someone flipped off a switch. The air of the hallway thickened around them, and it'd be impossible if the others didn't feel it, too, the strength of it nearly choking Jack.

He swallowed hard. "Hey, Gabe."

Gabriel shouldered his way through the throng of sweaty teammates, coming to a stop a safe distance away. "Can... Can I talk to you? Later? After this?"

His heart sank. His stomach roiled. His hands shook. "I don't know," he whispered. "I have to see if my work is finished. Can I get back to you?"

Like an avalanche spilling forth from a mountain's ledge, Gabriel's shoulders fell and his expression crumbled. Jack felt like he was breaking his heart all over again, and in front of other people, no less.

McCree, who'd been standing silently behind Gabriel, watching him with tense, hazel colored eyes, and a nose scrunched in concern, stepped forward and reached a hand out, closing it around Gabriel's bicep. 

Annoyance coursing over his features, Gabriel shrugged out of his grasp. "If you aren't busy later, will you come find me?"

"Maybe." Jack smiled weakly at him, but his gaze flicked sideways, at the staircase.

After a tick and a couple pounding heartbeats, Gabriel turned and stomped his way up the staircase, his anger and frustration evident in the voracity of his footsteps; they echoed all the way to the next floor. McCree and the others milled around for several awkward seconds, before slowly dismissing themselves and moving up the stairs as well.

Jack didn't miss the way McCree glanced over his shoulder right before he disappeared onto the next floor.

And apparently, neither did Reinhardt.

"What the fuck," the blonde whistled, pushing away from the wall. "Jack, you have to tell me what in all seven Hells is going on here."

His gaze stared up at the now empty top stair, listening to the sounds of everyone milling around in the front halls, talking about doing laps around the building. He heard neither Gabriel nor McCree's voice in their midst, but he shook off the thought and rose from the wall, too, turning to look at Reinhardt head on. "It's my fault."

"How? What happened?" Reinhardt laid a gigantic hand on his shoulder and squeezed, eyes as soft and inviting as the morning dew. "I'm here to listen, you know. We all are."

His guard, still lowered, crumbled even further away.

"So, just tell me. What are you scared of?"

His answer came out so soft, so gentle, he barely thought it audible.

Reinhardt leaned closer. "What?"

It took an act of God to raise his voice. "I'm in love with him."

While these words were a bombshell to him and his life, Reinhardt remained unfazed, his expression the exact same. "And?"

"And... and what?" 

"Is that all?"

Jack threw his hands out in defeat. "Yes, that's all. I'm - I'm in love with him, and he's with someone else, and that scares the shit out of me."

"Oh, Jack." Reinhardt tilted his head, brow softening fondly. "That's not something to be scared of."

"How on Earth is it not something to be scared of?"

"Because, you're in love with him."

This whole conversation felt a little bit like deja vu in the worst kind of way, and Jack found himself shaking his head repeatedly. "What are you talking about?"

"Jack, there's nothing wrong with being in love with him," Reinhardt explained. "You've been in love with him forever, haven't you?"

Well, of course-

"Love is a good thing. Love brings out the best in you." Reinhardt raised a hand and tapped a finger against Jack's chest. "Especially you, Commander."

"What?"

"You've been an amazing commander to all of us, and we'd be nowhere without you this passed year, but you aren't happy."

Jack opened his mouth to argue, but Reinhardt shushed him.

"Say what you will, we all see it. You were never as happy as when you were with Gabriel, and for a second this week, we saw that again," he said gently. "I saw you smiling in the dining room, drinking coffee with Gabriel and Ana. I saw Gabriel try to hold your hand and you looked so happy. Were you happy?"

He nodded.

"Were you that happy while you were apart?"

"No," he admitted.

"Then, Jack, you deserve that all the time, and if Gabriel is the only one who does that for you, then... do it. Talk to him. I don't know why you're still standing down here!"

The words struck him like an arrow through the heart. Painful, but straight to the point, lodging itself squarely between his ribs and twisting. He shifted, uncomfortable, his chest aching with the weight. "What if he doesn't want me?"

Reinhardt pointed a meaty finger towards the staircase. "When you told that young man you didn't want to talk to him, he was devastated! And, by the Gods, do you know what the first words he said to me when he came back?"

"No."

"He asked if you had been okay without him here, Jack."

Reinhardt put both hands on his shoulders and physically turned him around, giving him a shove towards the stairs. "Go talk to him! Go! Now!"

On legs shaking with terror, he climbed the staircase. The hall had cleared out and through the clear double doors upfront, he saw the group from earlier running together around the building, but he didn't see Gabriel's familiar form amongst them as they passed by. He doubted he'd gone to the kitchen while angry. Jack knew for a fact the man hid away in whatever private corner he called his own whenever he found himself dejected or angry.

He liked being separated from everyone in order to breathe deep.

So, he made his way to the next floor, slowly ascending the stairs with a lump in his throat.

He'd listened to Reinhardt without a single argument, but what would he even say once he opened that door? Just look him dead in his face and confess his love with no lead up? No explanation? He had no fucking clue what to say or do, and it started choking him as he paused at the top of the staircase. He'd been at a loss for words this entire week, and now it felt a hundred times worse.

What would he say?

His own voice kept parroting that back at him repeatedly in the back of his mind as he stood like a deer in headlights in the mouth of the barrack's hallway.

_I'm in love with you, Gabriel_ sounded really stupid for some reason. _I don't want you to be with anyone else, please, take me back_ sounded much worse and far more ridiculous, because he couldn't imagine Gabriel just... falling at his feet and agreeing with him, after everything they'd been through.

Down the hallway, a door slammed hard, rattling several of the nearby doors on their hinges.

He saw the new kid, Jesse McCree, stalking out of Gabriel's barracks, head down, hands fisted at his sides. The knuckles of one hand looked rough and beaten, like he'd punched something with all his strength.

Jack thought about reaching out and stopping him to ask what happened, but then the kid swiped a hand across his cheek and sniffled - and Jack realized something horrific. Crying, Jesse pushed passed him forcefully and rushed away on fast, heavy footfalls; he heard the front double doors slam closed a couple moments later. Faintly, he could smell smoke, inching its way through the halls and into his subconscious, and he knew exactly what had just happened.

The panic rising in the back of his throat nearly cut off his oxygen supply, as he rushed as fast as possible to Gabriel's barracks, yanking open the door. He found Gabriel laying across his bed, arm tossed over his face - but he immediately sat up when Jack entered. He still wore his gym clothes, looking edible and strong and toned.

"Jack, what's-"

"So, I just saw McCree crying and leaving your room," he interrupted. "You wanna tell me what just happened to that poor kid?"

Gabriel gave him a slightly lopsided smile, steepling his fingers over his knees. "I couldn't love him the way he needed, so-"

The words struck him so hard, he felt his shoulder jerk slightly, but he didn't say anything.

"But that's over. I kicked him to the curb, and he punched me." Gabriel laughed lightly, a tilted, crooked sound. "Ironic, eh?"

A little, he thought, and it brought him a small amount of satisfaction, but questions began mounting, more and more. "Why... why did you dump him?"

"You wouldn't talk to me after I answered his phone call," Gabriel whispered. "You wouldn't let me touch you. I thought you were still upset about seeing me with him, so-"

"Whoa, whoa!" Jack interrupted him, stepping closer to his bed. "You... you dumped him for _me_?"

An air of sadness crossed his features, devastation, and that one look for that split second told him everything he needed to know. It felt like a cold splash of water had been dumped on his entire life. It hurt. Everything inside his body began to ache, his vision blurred as the room tilted around him and grey ebbed at the edges of his peripheral.

Jack's body sagged backwards against the closed door.

He really didn't know how to form his thoughts into words that would make any remote sense. His soul swirled like an uneasy storm, lapping at his inner thoughts. He wanted to ask how this had happened, after he promised himself he wouldn't fall back in Gabriel's embrace, yet here he was, getting angry over Gabriel sleeping with another man, and then falling to pieces when Gabriel dumped said man. The stormy soul inside him wanted the best of both worlds; he wanted Gabriel to want him, and only him, but he wanted to keep him at a safe distance to save them both from the inevitable blow up and heart break.

But... what was that saying again?

You can't have your cake and eat it, too.

It'd been one thing admitting he loved Gabriel to Reinhardt, but he didn't tell him how terrified he was of getting his heart broken again.

Gabriel rose from the edge of the bed, mattress creaking. "Jackie-"

"Wait." He lurched back to his feet in a surge of renewed energy, and crowded into Gabriel's space. The larger man took a few steps back, shuffling quickly, until Jack heard his tennis shoes hit the nightstand against the wall. "Gabe, didn't we promise this would only be physical? What happened?"

Gabriel closed his eyes, lifting his head up, seemingly attempting to get out of Jack's space, and said nothing.

"Talk to me, please," Jack begged. "I'm losing my fucking mind here, I need to understand-"

"I lied, Jackie." Gabriel slowly opened his eyes and met Jack's gaze, so gentle and devastated. "When you made me promise it was physical, so we didn't get hurt. I lied." 

"Why?" 

"Because I never got over you," he whispered, barely audible in the roaring silence of the bedroom. Jack was acutely aware of the bustling outside the barracks door, everyone milling around in the common area, the group having come inside from their laps around the building, relaxing before their orders came in. Unbeknownst to them, their leaders were falling apart just feet away from them. 

"I... Jack, I-"

Swallowing passed the lump in his throat became increasingly harder. He wished he could die. He wished he could escape forever, get a free way out of jail, because once he opened the Pandora's Box that was his all consuming love for Reyes, there was no going back. No more clean air breathing. No more warm fires and easy life.

No more convincing himself he was happy with something other than the vicious, lustful obsession only Gabriel could supply him with.

And everything in him wanted to say it. Just like Reinhardt told him to.

"I love you, Jack."

The words he knew were coming still hit like an atom bomb.

For a moment, he thought he'd collapse. His legs wobbled and wanted to fold beneath him.

"I think I've loved you since I saw you signing your paperwork." His voice sounded strained, full of pain, breathless, continuing despite Jack seeing rainbows in his vision. "I love you so much, it hurts me." One hand came up to clutch against his chest, and by fucking God, his voice _broke_ as he continued, as though he were about to burst into tears. 

He'd never seen Gabriel cry, he realized numbly. Not when he was injured. Not when things went from bad to worse. Not when he spoke of being separated from his daughter since she was just a baby.

His voice had never even wavered.

Until now.

By the time a tear slipped down Gabriel's cheek, Jack's hands trembled at his sides.

Gabriel swiped the tear off his face angrily, sucking in a shaking breath. "Breaking up with you was the biggest mistake I've ever made, Jack."

This entire time, he thought he was the only one hurting. Selfishly. Arrogantly. He didn't believe someone as strong as Gabriel Reyes felt sadness at the loss of someone as inconsequential as Jack Morrison. He didn't believe Gabriel loved him either, on some level, because his luck sucked, and instead rolled in his own pain and devastation like a martyr, thinking he lived alone in that Hell.

He'd been so selfish.

"You know where I stand now." More tears made a trail down his perfect face, but Gabriel didn't wipe these away. "I'm ruined on everyone but you, pretty boy, so if you don't feel that same way, get outta my room and don't look back-"

His entire body jerked and shuddered at his words, as he watched those tears fall delicately down Gabriel's sharp jaw and drip to the floor.

No, a voice inside his head said simply.

No.

He'd gone a year without him and it had been akin to Hell.

An entire lifetime without Reyes? Never.

"Jack, please. I've never begged you for anything, but you gotta tell me-" Gabriel reached out and gripped his waist; his large hands always dwarfed his slim center, making the big and intimidating Strike Commander feel small. He'd forgotten how good that felt, how much he missed being dominated and put in his place, and then held and made to feel safe. 

His eyes felt hazy and drunk as he peered up at him again, took in the way his brow knit together in desperation, the downturn of those enticing lips.

"Jack, tell me you love me, too."

What existed inside Jack's heart was more than just love.

He wasn't sure any sane person had ever felt that way for another living human. Because this... was what therapy books called an obsession. An all consuming wildfire he couldn't put out. He woke up thinking of Gabriel, went to sleep thinking of Gabriel, his blood and his breath and his soul called out to him at all times, chanting his name. Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel...

If someone ripped open his sternum and read the words written across the ribcage protecting his heart, they'd find nothing but that one word. Repeated over and over until it gained strength and became a curse.

Gabriel.

"Fine!" Gabriel snapped, shoving Jack out of his space with two firm hands on the center of his chest. "If _you_ won't leave, I will."

His hands snatched Gabriel's collar, twisting him around and slamming him with all his strength against the door. The heavy wood rattled on its hinges, the chattering outside stilled at the sudden crash, but Jack paid it no attention. Instead, he leaned sideways and clicked the lock just below Gabriel's hip, keeping everyone else out and away for good.

Anger flashed over Gabriel's face, heat building in his tear filled gaze. "Are you trying to get your ass beat?"

"Yes." 

And that... Well, that was the most honest he had been in a year.

Gabriel sucked in a sharp intake of breath.

All the vehemence visibly drained from his frame. Jack peered up at him through his thick lashes, eyeing the way his jaw clenched, the shape so strong, rough from the facial hair he'd newly grown. It called to him. Losing his self control, he shoved his face into the crook of his neck, running his lips along the curve of his jaw and down his jugular, breathing him in.

He smelled like musk and cologne and man, something like smoke and gunpowder, pine needles and dreams come true, sweat and musk from his workout. It rocked him to his core, making him whine against the soft, rich skin. Fuck. Fuck!

Falling down the rabbit hole.

Deeper and deeper.

He wanted to eat this man alive.

"Shit," Gabriel rumbled. That husky voice hit him somewhere in the middle of his legs, burning through his cock like a brand. "Wait, wait, I really need to hear it from you first, I can't... I can't just-"

He took in a slow, deep breath, filling his lung with resolve. 

The words he'd spent years telling himself not to say, not to think about, not to admit out loud, threatened to bubble forth. He'd told himself a million times not to think about it, because it would drive him insane; he swore to himself, he would never get to tell Gabriel out loud how he felt after their break up. And that broke his heart more than anything.

All he'd wanted to do that day was tell Gabriel how he made his heart and soul feel.

The words felt almost foreign in his own head now, but...

"I love you, too, Gabriel." Jack pressed his knee between Gabriel's legs, shoving it hard against his crotch. Delighted, he felt that hard, thick, impressive line of an erection pressing back against him through the thin fabric of his shorts, as Gabriel hissed through his teeth at the friction and pressure. 

It felt so, so good to say it out loud.

At long last.

The body against him shuddered, thoroughly, as Gabriel's hazy gaze searched his face. "Jack, are you sure?"

"I've never been so sure of anything in my life," Jack admitted, and his hands fell to the worn waistband of his tight basketball shorts. Just like the rest of his closet, Jack knew this piece of clothing like the back of his hand, having taken them off him after several workouts together in SEP. In some part of his brain not rattled by lust, he found it horribly amusing that the man who wore designer underwear and cologne, also had worn the same shorts and sweatpants for the last ten years.

Gabriel's eyes only widened, Jack heard his sharp intake of breath.

Surprised? Shaken? Putting a word to his reactions were nearly impossible in the roaring of the room's silence around them, but Jack felt like he knew what he was feeling without knowing the true description of it.

Overwhelmed and breathless.

Watching the love of his life take his pants off, knowing they'd just confessed their love to each other.

It felt surreal. Like they'd both awake from the dream in a couple minutes, and he was scared.

He knew, because Jack felt the exact same way.

Passed the thick cloud of carnal hunger, passed the anxiety from the last week, a young, 20-year-old Jack Morrison was scared shitless. Terrified of what was happening, admitting how he felt, admitting he loved Gabriel Reyes with all his heart. Knowing tomorrow, he would wake up, and Gabriel would be there, still, knowing he loved him.

Though, he couldn't imagine what exactly the future would bring for them.

He couldn't begin to imagine what would happen after they fucked and realized what they'd just said to each other.

But, he knew, in this second, he felt relieved to finally say it.

And to finally be touching Gabriel again.

He dropped to his knees again. This time, it felt different than in the debriefing room; confidence soared through him and desperation flooded, a tidal wave of want, his fingers barely trembling on the cool, silky fabric, he did not hesitate a single second when he pulled those shorts down just enough to see tanned skin and perfectly groomed black hair.

The trail started along his hard, toned set of abs, disappearing into the hem of his boxers, which were black and soft. 

Only when he began pulling the twin elastic waistbands further down and saw the first hint of his end goal did he start to shake, because the anticipation was killing him. He wanted Gabriel so bad, he could taste it. 

So, faster than before, he quickly manhandled the shorts the rest of the way down.

His dick remained the most beautiful thing he had laid eyes on in his entire life. Impossibly thick, it felt weighty in his palm and burning hot, long enough to inch far, far, far into his throat until he couldn't breathe, until he begged for more. Thick, black hair gathered at the base, usually preened and trimmed for his visits, but left messy and unkempt today - for reasons unknown, that made his dick light afire. Just the thought of shoving that length down his throat until his nose nestled in the forest that smelled so much like Gabriel...

If he were a lesser man, he would have drooled.

There was a beat of silence, of stillness between them both. He found himself just staring, admiring, praying this wasn't a dream, as he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the soft, velvety, thick head.

"Fuck, baby." Gabriel's hand laid itself atop his scalp, palm large, before threading his fingers through his hair - it brought his gaze away from the thick length in his hand and up to that handsome face.

What he found took his breath away.

There was an adoration there he'd never seen from anyone else. Sure, he'd been adored before, by dozens of different people. Girls with crushes on him back in Indiana, Vincent with his puppy dog eyes and gentle demeanor, everyone in Overwatch that adored him as their steadfast and reliable commander, yet none of them looked at him the way Gabriel Reyes did at any given moment.

A look that said I know who you are, even all the bad things you hide, I've seen you at your worst, when you're screaming in my face and throwing punches, and I still think you are beautiful and I would pull down the moon for you if you just asked. I love you, I love you, I love you, and you're mine. I have eyes for no one else, and I would die for you.

Well, lucky for Gabriel, Jack would lay down his own life for him, too, without hesitation, without a second thought. By fucking God, he loved him.

He _loved_ him.

Whole body and whole soul.

With that, Jack opened up and took that length as deep as he could. It had been a year since he'd last done this; he couldn't take it in one fail swoop like he used to, deepthroating like it was his job - so he became increasingly annoyed with himself when he made it halfway down the shaft and his throat sputtered and choked around the girth. Yesterday, it'd been easier. He was still hungover and pliant, and Gabriel took control and didn't give him a choice but to take each inch.

Fuck.

This wasn't attractive, he thought, heat rising to the tips of his ears.

"Oh, it's been a long time, huh?" That gentle palm tightened, suddenly taking a fist full of his hair in a vice grip. The familiar sting made his groin tighten and his body fell limp in the grasp, far more obedient than he was used to. "Can't take it all?"

Jack pulled back, slipping off with an audible pop, watching the weighty thing fall from his grip and bob lower. Sucking in a hard breath, he shook his head. "Not yet."

"Would you like some help?"

Those words shot such a thrill through him, his cock hardened even more - if that was possible. "_Yes_, please."

"Please?" Gabriel's eyebrows darted up, quickly, then his face crumbled into something that looked painful. "Jesus, I'm fucked."

So was he.

Forever.

There was no going back.

Gabriel grabbed the base of his cock and trailed it along Jack's bottom lip. "Open up for me, baby."

He obeyed, jaw dropping wide.

The first slide of the thick cock into the sweltering heat of his mouth felt like the first sup of water to a man dying of dehydration. He'd been walking in the desert for a year since Gabriel left, and now, finally, he could drink again, take in everything he would give until he was sated and re-hydrated and home.

The slide was easy and natural until it reached the same middle ground, and then the head hit the back of Jack's throat. His gag reflex went into overdrive - he coughed and gagged harshly.

Gabriel yanked back just a little, until he stopped gagging. "Can I keep going?"

He nodded rapidly.

Apparently, that was the only trepidation Gabriel had, because he immediately snapped his hips forward, forcing his entire dick passed the gag reflex and into his throat, paused for only a split second to slip out a heady and gruff groan, and then started a punishing pace. Jack choked, felt white hot tears slipping down his cheeks, saliva dribbling passed his stretched lips, mixing wetly and messily along his chin. 

And, by God, he wanted _more_.

This was perfect. Everything he wanted.

Everything he'd been craving for a year.

Gabriel ramming the back of his throat mindlessly, huffing hot, strained breaths above him, obviously trying his hardest to keep quiet, as the chattering had resumed outside the doorway - his abs heaved with the effort, defined with each hard thrust. The voice inches away from them was barely audible over the sounds of his own gagging, coughing, sputtering, and whining, and the roaring in his ears.

Anyone could hear them, at any second, but that just made him want to be louder. Get nastier.

He wanted everyone to know he belonged to Gabriel. He'd had the same thought the first night they slept together, but he couldn't believe the difference in the feeling - now, madly in love with Gabriel Reyes, knowing he was the only person meant for him for the rest of his life - wow, it felt like drowning and suffocating, how much he wanted everyone in the world to know.

This couldn't be kept a secret anymore.

"Wait, fuck-" Gabriel yanked him off suddenly and pulled him to his feet with a fist in his hair.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, dazed, jaw feeling weak.

A smirk crossed that handsome face. "That's not where I wanna fuckin' cum, Jack."

A shudder wracked through his body, thrilling him to the very bone, and somehow, making his dick ache relentlessly harder still.

In a rush of hands and heat, Gabriel yanked down Jack's pants and he kicked out of them haphazardly, nearly falling on his face - but strong hands caught him and shoved him against the door, and grabbed one of his milky thighs, pushing it up until his knee hit his own chest. With a furrowed brow and no hesitation, he spat on his hand and shoved two slightly damp fingers deep into Jack.

A high pitched preen escaped his throat as he tossed his head back, letting it thump hard against the door. Without lube, it _hurt_, but Jack liked it that way. Immediately fucking Gabriel every time he was injured on the battlefield may have developed a masochistic complex, he'd always guessed, because the more Gabriel made it hurt, the harder he fucked him, the rougher he was, the harder Jack wanted it.

And, dear fucking God, he wanted it harder than ever before.

Gabriel gave it to him, pounding his fingers and twisting, stretching, in such a hurry, all Jack could do was grip dark, toned biceps and try not to scream out of pure, breathtaking ecstacy.

They'd been messing around every day for an entire week, but this still felt better, so much better, because he knew...

Jack knew...

He was finally going to get _fucked_.

The thought made him moan desperately over the sound of Gabriel's wet fingers messily pounding into him, his skilled efforts doing their job - the initial pain was beginning to subside already, far too fast, leaving him feeling empty and desperate and hungry for more. Shifting his weight, using his hands as leverage on Gabriel's arms, he shoved himself further down, making Gabriel's fingers inch that much deeper.

Still not enough. So close to touching what he wanted.

Gabriel growled, low and deep, and shoved a third finger inside. This sparked up another round of stinging, and that struck his dick so hard, he felt the beginning warmth of his orgasm building already. 

"Ah, enough, Gabe," he gasped. 

Concern etching across his partner's brow, he whispered, "You sure?"

He'd never been more sure in his entire life.

Instead of answering with words, he captured Gabriel's lips hotly, fingertips pressing deeper into his partner's muscles. Gabriel humed in his mouth, carefully removing his fingers, and kissing him back with everything he had. He plunged his tongue into his mouth, pressing him completely against the door so he couldn't move, completely at his mercy.

He wasn't sure how long they kissed, just exploring, softly, then harder, fingers touching every inch of exposed skin. Tasting and tongues and soft moans of encouragement, but by the time Gabriel finally pulled away, the voices outside their door had grown in volume, everyone walking around in the barracks hallways, talking about their plans for the night.

"My pretty boy," Gabriel whispered, bringing him back to the bedroom. He deadlifted Jack off the ground with just his hands on his ass - he shoved him against the door again, harsh, and Jack wrapped his arms around his neck, scrambling for purchase.

He had but a moment of preparation.

A moment of consideration, as Gabriel spat in his palm again.

A second to catch his breath, as he listened to the wet sounds and quiet hisses of a hand sliding along a huge cock.

Before Gabriel allowed his restraints to snap, just the way he liked, and shoved his cock wetly into Jack's pliant and waiting body in one smooth, practiced movement until he was buried to the hilt. Jack's vision whited out, static filled his ears, and it took him several hard, pounding beats before he realized the sound of the long, effervescent cries were not coming from the hallway behind his head, but actually coming from his own mouth, and he couldn't bite them down, couldn't silence himself, because finally...

Finally...

He had Gabriel's dick back inside him, and it was _huge_. Impossibly thick. He relished the steady burn, the aching, familiar pain, as he stretched and adjusted, his body hungrily twitching around the intrusion. Back pressed flatly against the door, his entire body flushed with heat, his throat ached from the severity at which he wanted to scream from being so full and complete, at long last.

It still didn't really hit him the severity of his own actions until he felt Gabriel's hand leave one of his thighs and then, he heard that husky voice.

"Open up."

He opened eyes he hadn't realized he'd closed and found Gabriel holding up the bottom hem of his own shirt. His lips parted enough for Gabriel to shove the shirt against his tongue. 

"'kay, close."

He followed instructions easily.

"Good boy," he whispered, lips brushing the shell of his ear. "Now keep quiet. The cadets don't need to know you aren't in charge of this room."

Jack whimpered.

That tantalizing mouth quirked off to one side, familiar, crooked. A bolt of lightning exploding his entire world. It reminded him of the first day they met, in that dark room surrounded by paperwork.

He'd been screwed from the first second he saw him smirk.

Gabriel pulled back and thrust back in with all his strength, setting a hard, punishing pace as his arm muscles strained with the effort of holding Jack up. He hadn't been fucked in a long time, so his girth and length was stretching him to his limit, to the edge of so painful, he wanted to cry, while he simultaneously wanted more, and more, harder, and harder. It'd been so long since he'd been fucked, stretched, and had every good spot rammed into with the strength of a thick super soldier.

Regular men would just never do the job for him.

All Jack could do was grip desperately to sweat slick skin as Gabriel fucked into him, relentless and vicious, unrestrained, with that salacious inhuman strength. Gabriel shoved his face into his neck, mouthing at his pounding jugular, and effectively pressing their bodies even closer to together. Jack's own cock trapped between them, dripping wetly against his uniform undershirt, and aching to be touched.

Pleasure mixed with the sluggish pain, and Jack scraped his nails across Gabriel's clothed back, desperate. He opened his mouth and released the shirt from his lips. "Harder," he begged.

"Fuck, y' sure?"

He nodded rapidly, and Gabriel moved back a little, lifting Jack a higher with just his strong arms - and shoved back in. This new angle allowed his cock to bury deep inside him, striking spots that made Jack's vision go white, and also allowed him to pull at the way out before shoving back in. The long pull and slide of that cock, the wet cacophony, made Jack desperately reach for his own dick with sweaty hands.

Finally, closing his fingers around his hot, aching length, he preened loudly, crying Gabriel's name in desperation. 

This made Gabriel thrust even harder and faster, his movements turning sloppy in their frantic nature.

The door shook and rattled on its hinges behind him with Gabriel's new vigor. Fear and panic clawed its way up the back of throat, envisioning the door flying open and everyone seeing him being railed until he cried. The cadets didn't need to see that. He gasped and sobbed, "Gabe - Gabe, the door-"

He understood, thankfully, and lifted him away from the door, still buried deep inside him. They stumbled across the bedroom, until he was dumped him on the edge of his bed. Without a second of downtime, Gabriel shoved both his legs back as far as they would go, until they nearly touched the mattress, leaving him completely open and exposed.

Gabriel licked his lips, gaze flitting down to where they met hungrily, and rolled his hips with practiced smoothness, burying himself until skin met skin. His deep, resulting moan sounded so insanely hot, it flew all over Jack in a blanket of lust, and he found his gaze taking in the beautiful man towering over him. Sweat clung to the fabric of his t-shirt, plastering it to his muscular chest; his muscles strained in his arms, shaking and trembling.

The dim light from the only lamp in the room cast him in golden light, the fine lines of his face, the sharp strength of his jaw, and steady determination in his brow. The adoration in his gaze as he watched them fuck, up close and personal, unlike anything he had seen before, from anyone else. He'd seen that same look every once in a while across his face during their times together, but he'd never known a name for it.

Now he did.

Love.

_Love._

Heat spread across Jack's chest and ears, and he grabbed at his cock again. "Gabe," he choked out.

"Hmmm?" came the distracted response, snapping his hips harshly forward again.

It knocked the breath out of Jack's lungs, but he managed to gasp out, "I love you."

The thrusts paused and Jack could have sworn he heard Gabriel suck in a sharp, surprised breath. His gaze snapped away from his dick and met Jack's own, fiery and heated and completely different than they were just moments before - and his own hand moved faster along his cock, so swept away in the attractiveness of that feral look.

"Yeah," Gabriel blew out a long breath. "Yeah, fuck, I love you, too."

Leaning forward, nearly bending Jack in half, he fucked into him at such a renewed pace, his orgasm splashed over him in a heady rush before he realized what was happening - Jack's cock twitched and exploded its spend on his own shirt, coating his fingers. His back arched and he cried out, but Gabriel slapped a hand over his mouth before he got too loud, holding him down, fucking him through it so hard, the bed slapped against the wall. 

Oversensitive, all Jack could do was huff and puff and drool against Gabriel's hot palm, as he was held down and treated like a piece of meat, letting the love of his life chase his completion inside him rougher than they'd ever gone before.

Just when Jack's fingertips started going numb and he felt lightheaded, Gabriel swore loudly and buried himself completely inside as he spilled his seed. The orgasm felt strong and it wracked through the body above him with shudders and shivers, filling him, claiming him, owning him. 

Breathless, Gabriel released his hold on Jack and collapsed to his knees on the floor, cock slipping wetly from him. He pressed his forehead, hot and drenched in sweat, against Jack's knee.

Jack, though, could only stare at the ceiling overhead, chest heaving, white noise roaring in his ears.

He'd finally had sex with him again. A year without it had been far too long, he'd almost forgotten just how talented he was at it, and how he always felt close to death after they were finished, edging on the precipice of passing out from exhaustion.

Gabriel, though, always recovered first, his stamina knowing no bounds; this time was no different, as he slowly rose to his knees and yanked his shirt off, something Jack saw just from the corner of his vision. The movement made him sit up carefully on one elbow, to watch what he was doing. 

With gentle and soft hands, he wiped his shirt across the mess Jack made on his own exposed stomach, then further down, wiping it along his dick. With extra gentle touches, he wiped the messy hand, then tossed the dirty clothing over his shoulder. He moved on to carefully unlacing the boots still on Jack's feet and placing them somewhere on the floor; each boot he took off was then replaced with strong fingers, rubbing into the sore soles, before moving onto the next.

It was easy to lose himself in the gentle, caring hands of his lover, caring for him in this way. This typically didn't take place after their rendezvous, but he'd easily get used to it if Gabriel wanted to continue.

The hands slipped up his calves, rubbing there, too, so gentle and skilled. Jack hummed with delight. 

"Hey," Gabriel finally spoke, his voice low and soft. "Can I ask something now?"

He relaxed in the gentle, caring hands of his lover. "Course you can."

Silence fell, and Gabriel pulled Jack forward from his flat stance and began taking his dirty shirt off him. The cool air felt wonderful on his overheated body, but then, Gabriel was moving into his space, pushing him to the back of the bed, shirking his jeans off, and climbing in with him. His arms flung around Jack and pulled him close, arranging his now naked body until Jack's head lay on his chest.

A gentle warmth filled his core, as he flung an arm over Gabriel's torso and hugged him back.

Finally, he spoke again. "Why were you avoiding me this week?"

Jack tilted his head, regarding the man now looking down at him so gently, almost with an air of shyness in the curve of his mouth. "I realized I was falling in love with you again and it scared the shit out of me," he answered, honestly. Listening to the rise and fall of Gabriel's chest and his heartbeat made the words easier to speak aloud.

"Falling in love with me _again_?" Gabriel chuckled, the rumble of his chest pleasing to Jack's ears. "Looks like I'm the luckiest man in the world."

He snuggled closer, if that was possible. "Why's that?"

"Because I got Jack Morrison to fall for me twice. Not once, but twice."

Jack smiled, knowing all to himself how many times he'd actually fallen in love with Gabriel Reyes. Somewhere in the hundreds, he imagined. Everytime he saved someone. Everytime he laughed with his team. Everytime he kissed him. The first time he laid eyes on him, and then seeing him walk out of that aircraft two weeks ago, alive and well.

And he imagined, somewhere deep down, he'd be falling in love with him every single day for the rest of his life, if he didn't fuck it all up again.

Which reminded him. "I'm... I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my ex, by the way," his whisper barely sounded audible over the still thriving noises of Overwatch outside their door. 

"And I'm sorry for everything I've done." His lips pressed to his temple, squeezing him harder. "I love you, Jack."

"I love you, too, Gabe." 

A deep sigh wrenched from his lover's chest, making him glance up at him again. 

"You know, I gotta go on another mission soon. Will you wait for me?"

"I'd wait forever for you, Gabe." Jack thread his deft fingers through the dark, messy bangs hanging over Gabriel's forehead.

"Really?"

"Yes. Even if you suddenly disappeared, I would chase you to the ends of the Earth."

A gentle smiled crossed Gabriel's lips. "You're more than I deserve, pretty boy."

___________________________________

Blackwatch left on another mission a week later.

This time, Jack was the first person in line to watch them leave, and the first person to greet them when they returned.

___________________________________

Two months after Blackwatch left, he received a middle of the night frantic call from General Backenridge. He'd woken up to find Liam Gauthier dead, sitting in his living room chair, with a note admitting to his crimes. Backenridge resigned from his post that same day.

Jack thought nothing of it.

Distantly, though, he thought he smelled smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I truly hope you enjoyed this even a little bit.
> 
> Come tell me if you loved it on Twitter!!! <3 
> 
> Twitter: [Witch's Brew.](https://twitter.com/HollyyLeighanne)


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